Whirlpool's Secret
by Sable Scribe
Summary: Naruto is your average eight year old girl with the strength of Tsunade and the ability of the first First Hokage.When questions about her heritage begin to arise, she finds herself on a long journey to her dreams, and possibly love.Iruka/Kakashi,Naru/?
1. The Secret's Exposed

I don't own Naruto/Inuyasha.

Beta: BloodCherry

Thanks for fixing this up!

Chapter 1

Naruto huffed, she was extremely annoyed, this would be her second year in the Academy and she hated every minute of it. Not only that but, no matter what she did or tried to do, the results were always the same. She got a zero on every test and people looked at her differently than everyone else, and she hated it and them.

And now here she was, sitting in front of her gramps, waiting for punishment for pulling yet another prank. But then again, the only time anyone besides her gramps looked at her was when she was pulling a prank, there wasn't a thing in the world he or anyone else would be able to do that could dissuade her from that fact.

"Naruto… what are you doing? I know you entered the academy because you wanted to be a ninja, but you don't take things seriously." Sarutobi frowned, looking over the small girl in front of him. Her golden blond hair had gotten longer, and was held in loose pigtails that ran down to her hips, those bright blue eyes were holding an angry hurt that shouldn't be in a girl her age.

Naruto snorted, "Why should I even try, old man? I mean, I study all the damn time, and you know what? It doesn't matter because even when I get something right on a test they mark it wrong! Why do I even bother? I should be some were in the middle of ranking! BUT I'm LAST! Last, because they all hate me!" she continued shouting, trying not to let the tears fall.

"Naru, come here." Sarutobi sighed, he would have to place her in a new class, things were getting ridiculous. They shouldn't be treating her like this in the Academy. Most of the shinobi in his forces understood what she was going through.

Naruto sniffed before walking to stand directly in front of the Hokage, within minutes she was pulled into a large hug before she managed to bury her face against his robes. Sarutobi continued to hold the small girl, stroking her hair, "Naru, I'm going to do things a bit differently. I'm going to give you an extensive exam over everything that you've learned at the academy. If you do well enough, I'll be able to move you out of the class you're in."

"Fine…" She tried not to cry, she hated to cry, it made her feel weak.

Sarutobi sighed, there really wasn't anything that he could do. He would have to speak with Iruka tomorrow. He knew that the young chunin held nothing against Naruto, but he wasn't sure how the young man would act if forced to teach her, and there was no telling how the clan heads and parents would react when he put the girl in the more advanced classes.

"Inu, take Naru to be tested." Sarutobi ordered, before sending someone else to get Iruka to the tower. The Anbu member nodded, taking the small girl's hand, the two walked away. Why did things have to become so frustrating, not for the last time Sarutobi damned Minato for leaving Naru to face these things alone. If he'd allowed Sarutobi to do the sealing, the girl would have had so much more protection!

A young man poked his head into the Hokage's office, he was young about 19 or 18, he had brown hair and eyes with a scar running across the bridge of his nose. "You called for me, Hokage-sama?"

"Iruka… I hate to ask this of you, but I've recently come into a problem with a number of the teachers at the Academy."

Iruka felt his eyes widen, "In what way?"

"As you know, Naruto Uzumaki is attending the academy and there have been a number of issues with teachers purposely grading her incorrectly. Sabotage of one of my ninja is pushing their rights more than a bit. I know you're wondering why you've been brought in, depending on how well she does on the overall testing will depend if she gets into your advanced class."

Iruka blinked in surprise, "I have no problems teaching her, Hokage-sama."

"I thought not, I would also ask that you personally hand out each test and check them for Genjutsu. For all classes, there has been a 30% drop in students outside of clans making it through the academy, I think someone is personally trying to ensure that these civilians or first generation shinobi fail. That is not acceptable, after the war and then the incident we need all the able bodied ninja we can get our hands on." Once again, Sarutobi felt his age as he rubbed his hand over his face.

Iruka blinked, that was going to be a big job and he wasn't entirely sure he could manage it by himself. "Ah…will I be the only one on this job?"

"No, Kurenai will be helping you, as well." The aged Hokage replied, before looking up to find Inu patiently waiting at the door. "Well, how did she do?"

"She was correct when she accused the academy member of changing her answers or failing her on purpose." Inu replied, while it couldn't be seen, the man was trembling in rage.

"So, how did she do?" Iruka asked, he'd heard horrible things about the young girl. From being a disruption in class, to picking on others, he wasn't sure how many hateful things had been said.

"Perfect, she didn't miss anything… Taijutsu needs to be pushed up to par, and she has Tsunade's… quality strength, which makes up for it, if she hits someone they will be down for the count." Inu twitched at the thought, he'd asked her to punch one of the training dummies and it had literally exploded. "And she definitely needs to get some chakra control exercises under the belt."

Iruka nodded, "What about weapons? And does she know any of the basic ninjutsu?"

"She can do Henge and the Replacement technique just fine… I don't think she'll ever be able to do a simple clone unless you torture her with chakra control, and her throwing is decent…" Inu replied.

Iruka nodded, this wouldn't be too terribly hard to fix but it would look bad if she made it into the "advance" or "top" class if she didn't have the skills to keep up with the others. Then again, these so called advance classes or top classes weren't really all that fair to everyone else, they just happened to have ten clan heirs in it.

"Iruka, how is Yakumo?" Sarutobi asked, Naru had said something several month ago that had sparked an idea in the old man's head and with the help of Jiraiya things seemed to be going a long swimmingly.

"Sense the sealing? Stunning actually, she's much healthier physically. Ido has regressed to a minor personality, while strengthening the body. She's in the middle of the ranks, were as she was unable to do much of anything before. Kurenai has done a lot to bolster her confidence and she seems to be making friends." Iruka smiled, just two years ago Yakumo hadn't even been able to walk without becoming winded, while she couldn't spar as well or nearly as long as the others, her throwing abilities with senbon and Genjutsu overcame just about all her other obstacles. He was rather happy that he was being allowed to help her.

Sarutobi smiled gently, Kurenai had come to him about sealing away Yakumo's ability to use her Genjutsu. Kurenai had become afraid of the strength of the Genjutsu and worried that Yakumo's altered demon Ido might hurt the girl or others. After some offhand comment from Naru, a brilliant idea seemed to come to life for him, if they fused the two together and forced Yakumo to become the stronger personality then things would change. When the fused sealing was applied to the girl, all of them had been surprised when the girl's health began to improve at a rapid rate. When he and Jiraiya came together they theorized that the "demon" Ido had been stealing Yakumo's health so that she might take over the body completely. When Ido was cut from her host, Yakumo was able to regain her health.

"When will… when will Naruto be joining the class?" Iruka finally asked, after several moments of silence had seemed to overtake the room.

Sarutobi sighed, "More than likely, sometime next week… Naruto has asked to be moved out of the orphanage and I see no real reason to deny her."

Iruka nodded, "I see, well, I'll be waiting then." Bowing once, Iruka left the room wondering how he was going to get along with this new student. He was conflicted with his dislike of her parasite, and his pity for the girl.

Inu sighed, before removing his mask "I want Naruto to move in with me."

Sarutobi blinked in shock, he hadn't expected this response. "Kakashi…"

"I know. I know it would put her in danger, but she can't keep living like this, Hokage-sama. She's utterly miserable, and she knows me well enough to stick around, instead of running off again." Kakashi finished, he's been taking care of the girl since she was placed in his watch, from giving her birthday gifts, to showing up for things like her induction to the academy. She was in almost every aspect his kid.

Sarutobi groaned, pinching his nose he glared at his Anbu operative. "Very well, you'll be the one responsible for her, do you understand? Including all her pranks."

Kakashi tried not to grin, he'd asked the small eight year old when he'd taken her for her testing. He couldn't really remember seeing a smile like that on her face, not in a very, very long time. "Hai, Hokage-sama. I really do hope you don't expect her to stop pranking, though."

"Kakashi, go, shoo! You have things to do, like getting your house ready for a small, impressionable eight year old girl." The Hokage tried not to think about what this could lead to, only the heaven's knew that Kakashi, Minato, and Jiraiya were perverts, was that going to be telling? He also had to wonder how the council members would react.\

Kakashi nodded before disappearing in a swirl of leaves and gust of wind.

Sarutobi glared at the floor which was now covered in a mass of leaves. "Damn Jounins, always using body flicker leaving their leaves and petals and water all over the place. Why can't they use the damn door? Or at least the window, like Jiraiya?" Huffing, Sarutobi made a mental note to up the janitor's salary.

O

Kakashi grinned, before grabbing a small blonde turning her upside down within seconds. Her laughter was sometimes the only thing that really made his life worth anything. His parents and friends were dead, and he had no real connection with the jounin of the village beside Gai, or Asuma. Though, he could only take so much green spandex, or cigarette smoke.

"What do you want, Kashi?" Naruto asked, the blood was rushing to her head and making her light headed.

"Well, I was wondering if you were ready to move in with me." Kakashi asked.

"NO WAY! You convinced jiji? HOW?" Naruto promptly struggled to get back upright from the strong arms holding her upside down.

"I made him feel guilty, I mean, you're very good at running away." He responded easily.

The blonde pouted, "Fine, fine fine, it's not like I have alotta shit, anyway. Damnit, why didn't you try that sooner?"

"The first thing we are going to do, is get you some different clothing… that hideous orange monstrosity has to go along with that language of yours." Kakashi muttered, moving the girl from upside down to his side much like one would hold a foot ball.

Naruto pouted, "Commmmmme oooon, at least let me ride on your back. If you're going to go roof hopping, this is going to suck."

"Maybe you shouldn't curse." Kakashi replied in a singsong tone, his eyes closed while he smiled.

Naruto just groaned from the feeling in her stomach as they went up and down making her nauseated. Oh, she would have her revenge; he will never know what happened to him. The question was, what exactly should she do? She could make his mask an array of colors, but then again, it might not affect him at all.

Looking up, Naruto realized she had no idea where the heck they were. Sure she knew a lot of Konoha, but this place looked run down but in a different way than the slum that the orphanage was settled in. It was relatively clean for one thing, no random bits of trash upon the ground, no graffiti littering the sides of the building. "Where are the pot heads?"

Kakashi nearly choked, sometimes he'd forget where she'd lived, then she'd say something like this and he would once again be reminded that Naruto had been forced to live in the slums. It was the only thing Sarutobi had been able to do to keep many of the Konoha citizens from outright attacking or trying to kill the girl. "Naruto, not everywhere in Konoha has pot heads. In fact, that only makes up about 15 % of the city."

Naruto just stared up as him as if he was insane.

"Anyway, this is Kusanagi-no-tsurugi, it's a ninja catch all." Kakashi stated, "And before you ask, catch all means they sell just about everything a ninja could need, from clothing, to weapons, and just about anything a medic nin could need."

"Kay… so, what are we doing here?"

Kakashi grinned tugging on the orange jumpsuit of death, he replied, "We are getting you some appropriate clothing, kid. This is like kill-me-now orange."

"So? I make a fool outta Jounin an' Anbu… I mean, they must suck if they can't hunt down and keep up with an eight year old." Naruto grumbled, it wasn't as if she adored the jumpsuit, but it did its job and that's all that really mattered. "Can I get a mask? Like yours?"

"Do you really want one?" Kakashi asked.

"Nooot really." Naruto replied.

Kakashi rolled his eyes before walking inside the shop, putting her down he found what he was looking for. "You, clothes, get them." He muttered before walking away to pick up the things she would need for the academy, and things to practice with at home.

Naruto rolled her eyes at the man speak before grinning, it was nothing like those weird crappy stores she'd seen at the center of town, this was hardcore! They had everything from stuff for Kenjutsu users, to chakra eating mesh suits… She vaguely wondered if she could talk Kakashi into getting one before deciding against it.

"Hey… do you need help?" A voice asked.

Naruto blinked to find a girl a year or two older than herself, with dark brown buns, and soft brown eyes holding a number of items that were being restacked, or put away. "Yeah, I need some decent Ninja wear." She grinned, hands behind her head, "But I don't know what to get, and I definitely don't want one of those dresses." She rolled her eyes at the thought, it was almost insulting.

The girl chuckled, "I'm Tenten by the way, and I agree that the dresses for students and genin are way too frilly. I'll be happy to help you out, though," She grinned.

Naruto returned the smile, "I'm Naruto,"

"Fishcakes?"

Naruto just groaned, "Maelstrom."

The two girls laughed before getting down to business, it would be nearly an hour before Kakashi came to find Naruto. He never could figure out how woman, no matter the age, could take this long finding clothing that would work. His ears perked up, it seemed Naruto had made a friend.

"What do you think, Tenten?" Naruto asked.

Tenten studied the outfit, the top was a sleeveless battle kimono that was a teal blue-greenish color that fell to mid-thigh with slits running up just about the pants, the sash that kept the kimono top close was a soft yellow, the pants that she was wearing were black and skin tight just falling to the top of her knees, black ninja sandals with a similar stripe of color, and a pair of fingerless gloves covered in metal plates. "I think it works, I mean, you can change up the color and maybe make the shorts shorter if ya want to. You need to get a belt and stuff like that, but you really won't need that until graduation, or on survival tests."

"Tenten, if these shorts got any shorter they would think I didn't have shorts on." Naruto grinned.

"Meh, distraction. If they are that stupid, they get what they deserve!" Tenten replied.

Naruto broke down laughing, "Is this another girls-are-stronger-than-boys thing?"

"Hell yeah!" Tenten crossed her arms thinking about one lavender eyed boy in her class. He made her so damn mad!

"Naruto, are you done?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeah… Hey, Tenten, I'll see you in school, right?" Naruto asked.

"Sure, let's have lunch together." Tenten replied, waving before once more returning into the back of the store.

"So, what do you think?" Naruto twirled, she had a number of these tops picked out and she adored them!

Kakashi nodded, "It's not something many would pick, but it looks good, kid. Do you want to wear that out?"

"Can I?"

"Yeah, get your stuff, so I can pay for it."

"Geez, you sound like a dad, Kashi."

Kakashi rolled his eyes, when things were put upon the counter it didn't take long for everything to be paid for and the two of them left to drop things off at his small home.

"So…what are we going to do? I mean, I don't have anything to do till next Monday. It wasn't as if I had a whole lot to move and stuff." Naruto stated looking up at her new… what exactly was Kakashi? He wasn't her dad or brother, but he was darn close.

"You can go tomorrow, if you really want, I won't stop you. The Hokage wouldn't mind either, I imagine." Kakashi rubbed her head, absentminded messing with her hair.

Naruto stared up at him, Kakashi wasn't usually one for affection. Sure, he would mess with her like turning her upside down or carrying her around like a sack of potatoes or a football, but no affection not like this, at least. Was she really going to be allowed to stay, or would the council once again intervene like so many times before?

"I think I want to go ahead and start… Are you going to be around a lot?" Naruto was a bit uneasy, she couldn't help it.

Kakashi frowned, "Naruto, I can't be your legal guardian or adopt you. The council will or would put a stop at every attempt, but you're living with me now. Even if I'm not your legal guardian, I will be the one taking care of you from now on. No more living by yourself, no more only eating Ramen. You need someone to look after you, wither you admit it or not, and I want to be the one to do so."

Naruto continued to stare as if she was accessing him, "This isn't an order from Jiji?"

Kakashi smiled sadly, "No, this is a choice I've been debating over for a very long time."

Naruto sighed, "Okay…" Gnawing on her bottom lip, she slammed into the taller man, burying her face in his stomach, arms locked around him.

Kakashi stiffened at the sudden movement, before awkwardly patting the girl on the head. He could feel hot tears begin to seep through his cotton shirt and the quiet muttering of "thank you" over and over again. As the sobbing died down, he felt her slowly let go, "Better?"

Naruto nodded, rubbing her eyes as if she was going to manage to hide her tears, "Sorry for crying all over you."

"It's fine. Come on, it's getting late. We'll set you up for school in a few days. The two of us need to get used to this…" Kakashi looked her over, other than the quick crying jag and the fast bounce back, everything seemed fine.

O

It had been three weeks since Naruto had moved in with Kakashi, she'd gone back to visit with Tenten several times and learned a good bit about throwing weapons. But now that she was once again at the academy, she felt nervousness well up inside her, she really didn't know what to expect.

"Naruto."

"Hmm, what?" Naruto asked looking up at Kakashi.

"You'll be fine. You've been keeping up with last week's lesson, and you have the potential to do great things, don't worry."

Naruto nodded, apparently several other students had asked to be allowed to take the same test she'd been forced to take. All the classes had to be rearranged and a number of teachers have been fired, including a white haired man named Mizuki, a Taijutsu teacher that had purposely been teaching students the wrongs stances. Because of this, classes were stalled for a three week period to get things back in order. Waving at her guardian, she found herself in front of the classroom A-2. Walking back and forth she started when a tall young man came to the door, "Are you Naruto?" he asked.

Naruto nodded, suddenly her voice was stuck in her throat and she couldn't speak.

"Well, I'm Iruka Umino, I'm the teacher of this class. They were going to put you in B-2, but your somewhere on the border at the bottom of A, and the very top of B, since B was so full they went ahead and put you in this class. Because of this, you're going to have to work hard to keep up, alright?" The man asked, rubbing his nose.

Naruto nodded, "I'm going to work my hardest then."

Iruka gave a small smile of amusement, "Alright," turning he waved the girl in. Most of the students of A-2 hadn't been moved out of the class, and Naruto was the only one who had been moved into the class.

Naruto followed, only to hear her teacher begin to speak, "Alright, settle down." A hush seemed to fall over the room. "We have a new student, she's the only one to be moved into A-2." Naruto could on fidget as many pairs of eyes turned to stare at her, "Please, introduce yourself."

"Ano…What do you want me to say, Iruka?" Naruto could feel her cheeks heating up as the stares continued.

Iruka hid a smile, "Your name, your dream and maybe a hobby?"

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki, my dream is to surpass the person I'm nicknamed after, and my hobby? Pranks, I guess."

"OI!" A loud voice called at the back of the room, it was a gruff voice belonging to an Inuzuka from the red triangles on his cheeks, his hair was a shaggy brown, and there was a puppy resting on his head. "What's your nickname?"

"Mini-Tsunade, or Mini-Tsu by some of the others."

"Ah, why do you have that name?" A bubblegum haired girl asked, curiously.

"Ano, Iruka how much is that Taijutsu Block?" the blonde suddenly asked.

"Ah… Not that much?" Iruka was confused.

Naruto moved, pulling the revolving block out away from the wall before rearing back and slugging it with all her might. The explosion of wood and metal and dust was worthy of a small bomb. As the dust cleared, all that was left was a small grinning blonde with her hand thrown back behind her head, "That's why I'm called Mini-Tsu, that and my temper."

Iruka had heard from Kakashi that she had the strength of Tsunade but that was ridiculous! "Naruto, can you control your strength?"

"Nope." Again she grinned, ignoring the looks of horror that crossed several of the students faces, many of the boys decided then and there that they wouldn't be messing with her at all.

"I see, well. Yakumo will you please raise your hand?" Iruka asked.

A pale skinned, light brown haired girl smiled, her golden colored eyes laughing, before raising her hand.

Naruto walked upward to the middle row, "Nice to meet ya." She said before sitting down.

Yakumo smiled lightly, ever since she'd been freed of Ido, becoming a great Kunoichi had been her dream. It was nice meeting another girl that didn't fawn all over that blasted Uchiha brat, "I'm Yakumo Kurama." She leaned over to whisper as Iruka launched into a long lecture of Konohagakure's history. "You can just call me Yakumo."

Naruto nodded, grinning lightly, "Then call me Naru, most people do… or that damn nickname." She partially growled at the thought.

Yakumo sent the girl a widening smile, before Iruka sent them a look to pay attention. Both girls sighed, they looked at each other and settled in for a long lecture. The first break would be at lunch, and both found themselves outside rather quickly.

"Weee! Lunch!" Naruto spun happily, her back and butt hurt from those horrible wooden desks.

Yakumo laughed, softly "Why are you so excited, Naru?"

"Tenten and I made an agreement to eat lunch together, that and I have a lot of questions about some of our classmates… I'm just being nosy, ya know?"

Yakumo snorted, "Who is Tenten?"

Naruto grinned, "Tenten is a third year student, she's like the Kunoich of her year, and she likes extremely pointy objects."

"NARUTO!" Tenten glared at her friend.

"What? I'm just telling the truth, you're scary with those weapons. Tenten, this is Yakumo Kurama, Yakumo this is Tenten. Yakumo is about the only serious Kunoichi in our class, the rest of them… fawn over the Uchiha kid." Naruto stuck her tongue out, making a bleking sound.

Tenten snorted, "We have one of those in my year too, this one is a Hyuuga."

"Yakumo… I'm glad your clan's not snotty." Naruto stated bluntly.

Tenten gaped, "Naruto!"

"What?"

"It's alright, Tenten. Naruto is just a blunt person, I don't really mind. My family has no reason for arrogance or pride, Naruto. Over the years many of my clan haves died in war and through mission work. So, there is only a small number of us left," Yakumo sighed, she was determined to be a great ninja.

"Still, that's not something to say…" Tenten sighed.

"It's not like I know how to act like you guys do. I was raised in eastside… ya know, the slums an' stuff. We didn't learn how to talk fancy an' stuff, you had to learn how to think on your feet to keep outta trouble." Naruto shrugged.

Yakumo's eyes widened, "Naruto, that's the most dangerous part of Konoha."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. But I'm outta there, I've got a new guardian and everything." Naruto waved the concern away.

Tenten sighed, before blinking "Do you know a boy named Rock Lee?" she was relatively sure the Taijutsu boy was from eastside.

"Bushy brows? Yea, I do, indeed." Naruto's face was scrunched up. Bushy brows was a pretty cool guy, stubborn but so darn earnest. He was one, of a number of kids, that had no business living in eastside, and one of the few of them that made it out.

Tenten nodded, a bit more than amused at the comment, bushy brows?

"Bushy brows?" Yakumo asked.

"Lee's a nice guy, really nice, and honest to a darn fault. But the boy had the biggest damn eyebrows I've ever seen on somebody."

Tenten sighed, before Yakumo began to chuckle, more than a little amused.

The three girls enjoyed their lunch, not knowing that a number of students were watching this display. It was surprising that the Genjutsu wielder and the new girl, (at least to class A-2) were getting along so well. One person who was interested happened to be the same Uchiha that they had been talking about earlier, it was a surprise, there was now a total of three girls that didn't drool all over him and he had to hope that from now on one of the three would be put on his team for group projects.

After lunch, things settled into another hour-lecture before the class moved on to the last class of the day, Taijutsu.

When everyone was put into the simple Taijutsu stance position, Naruto made sure she was in the back of the class. It was so embarrassing, she'd managed to correct herself, but she really had no idea which one's were right.

"Naruto… that stance is horrible." Iruka stated standing over the girl, the class tittered in amusement.

"Sorry Iruka… I had Mizuki as my Taijutsu teacher." Naruto replied, more than a little annoyed. She was going to show all these stupid councilmen kids she was better than them, and maybe some of those clan brats to!

"Ah, I see… He really was determined to ruin your form then."

Several students frowned, finally one asked "Iruka? What do you mean?" it was a girl with light blonde hair and light blue eyes, she was also wearing a lot of purple… and one of those dresses.

"There was a reason that the Academy was closed for three weeks Ino, you see, several of the teachers here were purposely teaching their students incorrectly. Naruto is one of those students." Iruka answered, his attention completely on correcting Naruto's form. Pushing the back of her knee, he smiled when the rest of her form began to clear up, "Does that feel better, Naruto?"

"Hai, Iruka… It doesn't hurt anymore," Naruto answered.

"Good, class return to your own stance!" Iruka yelled, continuing to look over his students. He would stop occasionally, to correct a position or write notes in his grade book.

"Alright, switch." Iruka called, out and the students once more changed into another of the basic academy style stances.

When they were finished, Naruto was about ready to burst. It had been fun to work with weapons, and the stance's weren't too bad, but gah! It was sooo boring! Between the history and literature and mathematics and so on, it was like being in a regular public school back before she'd joined the Academy.

Naruto sighed, it was finally over and she could only thank the gods it ended. "Yakumo, what do you do after the academy?" Naruto finally asked, as they began to walk toward the entrance of the school.

"I generally practice genjutsu with my Uncle and father, why?" Yakumo answered curiously.

Just as Naruto was about to answer she was knocked down, looking up she found herself being glared at by an Uchiha member she'd never seen before.

"Idiot, you ruined it!" The boy yelled.

Naruto scowled, "Ruined, what?" Rubbing her arm, she winced at the slight pain.

"My scroll! You ruined it!"

Naruto frowned, looking for the scroll in question. It looked like a jutsu scroll from what she could tell, but it wasn't too badly damaged. Nothing a bit of time and effort couldn't fix.

"I didn't ruin your scroll," Naruto stated, standing.

"You did too! You're going to have to pay for it!"

"I'm not paying for a scroll that can be fixed, not only that but you ran into me, not the other way around. So, shove off, asshole!" Huffing Naruto, grabbed Yakumo's hand and began to walk away. Neither girl noticed the anger that seemed to overtake the boy's face, or the sudden hush that seemed to fall over the training grounds.

Ozuru was angry, no bratty second year was going to treat him like that, especially not the one his parents called a demon. Oh no, he was going to get her back and he didn't care if he got in trouble. He could feel the chakra welling up into his chest, forming heat, and fire building getting ready to contain itself in a large sphere, "Fire Release: Grand Fireball Jutsu" the large sphere rocketed forward.

Shouts and screams of warning would go off seconds before the technique was released, Yakumo managed to dodge out of the way. Naruto felt terror rise up inside her, chakra surged through her veins, some of it ran across the ground, and the ground and water in the air twisted together as a large mass of woody like vines appeared in front of her. Naruto could only stare in surprise, shock seemed to overtake her. What in the world just happened?


	2. Dolphins and Chakra Shock

I don't own Naruto, if I did there would be more strong female characters. =D Anyway, Naruto belongs to Masashi Kinomoto.

Beta: Romantic Princess

Thank you, dear!

I want to thank everyone who reviewed, and commented! I would also like to ask those of you who didn't review to do so. I like criticism, and suggestions, more often than not they spur me on with different ideas and thoughts.

Chapter 2

Iruka had been cleaning up the training ground at the back of the Academy, he'd had to after Naruto had joined his class. She might not be able to hit the targets dead center, but if she threw one of those high powered kunai and managed to hit someone it would probably simply go through the body, or take a limb completely off. He'd limited the girl to one target, and there were several holes in the front and back of the thing… she'd eventually split the thing in half. Then quarters. Several of his male students had winced every time the kunai struck the target… it was almost like she was letting them know if they were perverted she would beat the crap out of them.

When one of the older students rushed around the corner stating that Ozuru one of their problematic students, was picking on Naruto and Yakumo. Iruka had gone in a flash, when the boy had let lose the Grand Fireball technique that all Uchiha were known for, he'd felt his heart plummet and something catch in his throat. The sudden chakra spike, worried him it was completely human but it was incredibly large. Even someone with large amounts of Chakra like Naruto would have a hard time pulling it off, and he was most certain that it was her chakra running along the ground and bursting forth into the air.

Just as quickly as the chakra dispelled, it collided together once more yanking water and crushing it together with the earth, before large tree trunks twisted together in front of Naruto like a vine. The large fire ball slammed into the wooden shield, it seemed to catch then sizzle out. Ozuru's snarl could be heard all across the entrance of the Academy, other teachers and aides were appearing. Some were dumb founded, while others were ushering other students to safety, one immediately used body flicker to leave no doubt to grab the attention of ANBU and to inform the Hokage.

"Earth Release: Binding Chains." Iruka rushed through the sequence of hand seals, Ozuru was getting ready to use his jutsu again. Iruka thought the tree trunks could hold up, but it was better not to take the chance. Thick linked chains rushed from the ground, yanking Ozuru to the ground in surprise the jutsu was halted while smoke could be seen rushing from the angry boy's mouth.

Secure in the knowledge that the hot headed boy was down for the count, he rushed toward the two girls. Yakumo was already getting up and moving away behind the tree barrier, Iruka nearly swore as he looked at the little blond. She was obviously in shock, and coming down from the high explosion of chakra as her eyes dipped, he knew she had chakra shock. He caught the falling girl before she hit the ground.

Chakra shock occurred when young children and teenagers (whose chakra systems were already unstable) used far more chakra than their bodies were suppose to which disrupted the chakra circulatory system. Not only did it mean that they were running low on chakra but in some cases it could lead to death, if there was no chakra running to the brain or internal organs.

"Yakumo, I want you to stay here. I need you to speak with ANBU, when they arrive." Iruka was extremely serious. Chakra shock was just as bad as regular shock, the fact that Naruto's darkly tanned skin was becoming pale at an abnormal rate, her breathing was becoming shallow.

Yakumo felt tears well up in her eyes, before nodding.

"Have you seen Hinata or Neji?" Iruka asked.

Tenten who'd been heading toward her friends quickly answered, "Neji left just before that Uchiha went nuts."

"Thank you, I'll talk to the two of you later." Iruka was gone in a rush, chakra enhancing his legs causing him to move at a speed a normal chunin would never be able to reach.

Tenten glanced at Yakumo, she looked like she was going to fall to pieces. "We were just talking about what we were going to do after school, and he totally freaks out." Yakumo stated, before rubbing away the urge to cry, she felt Tenten pull her closer to wrap a lose arm over Yakumo's shoulders.

"We'll just have to tell'em in big bold letters, what that idiot did." Tenten muttered.

It seemed as if hours passed in the few seconds that they were forced to wait as ANBU seemed to swarm the Academy.

Sasuke never thought he'd seen the arrogance of his clan, never thought someone from his family would openly try to kill someone. And for once in his life, he found himself questioning his father's teachings, questioning what it meant to be an Uchiha. If this was what it meant, then he wasn't sure he wanted to be a part of it.

When the ANBU member Saru took the time to speak with him, he had two choices. He could tell the truth… or he could lie…

"Uchiha-san?" The taller male asked.

"Hai?" Sasuke answered.

"Can you explain to me what happened?" The Monkey masked ANBU member asked.

Sasuke nodded, "Ozuru was reading over one of the fire scrolls from the Uchiha coffers and he wasn't paying attention. He ran into Naruto Uzumaki, and proceeded to scream and yell about his "ruined" scroll."

Saru nodded for the boy to continue, slightly surprised "When Naruto replied that it was an easy fix, he demanded she pay for it. Naruto refused and turned to leave, Ozuru proceeded to go through with attacking her from behind with my clan's Grand Fireball jutsu." Sasuke kept his face blank, he really wanted to speak with his Nii-chan.

Saru nodded again, "Thank you, Uchiha-san."

Sasuke sighed, before turning sharply to leave. He would have to think about this for a while, and he knew that tonight's confrontation with his father was going to be far worse than what he wanted. He'd strived to achieve his father's pride, just like his Nii-chan but depending on how his father reacted toward this action was going to create a wave through the Uchiha clan he was sure.

Several students watched the second Uchiha heir, surprised at his blunt honesty. It also encouraged several other students, to tell the truth as well leaving ANBU with an extremely detailed picture about what had happened.

O

Iruka felt his heart leap when he saw Neji close by, "Neji Hyuuga."

Neji frowned, before turning back "Yes?"

"I need you to come with me." Iruka stated, shifting the girl in his arms, "She's in chakra shock, we need to get her to the hospital."

Neji's brows raised before his eyes widened, within a second veins bulged "There is little to no chakra going to her heart." Neji followed, rushing as fast as he could.

Iruka swore, before channeling a small amount of chakra to keep the heart pumping. "Tell me if anything else changes."

"Hai." Neji felt a rush run through his veins, it was obvious from the thickness of her coils that she had a large amount of chakra. The question was exactly how much had she dispelled? But what was discerning was the secondary chakra pool, it was red and angry and strangely nearly empty. He would keep his thoughts to himself until he could find out more about the strange secondary pool.

Several times, chakra stopped pumping to different organs and each time Iruka kept her system stable until they finally arrived at the hospital where she was swept away behind closed doors.

"Sensei?"

"What is it Neji?" Iruka asked, looking down on the small boy.

"What occurred to put her in that condition?" He asked.

Iruka went still, he wasn't even sure how to explain it. "She was attacked by Ozuru."

Neji's eyes widened in surprise, he knew the older boy almost everyone in the academy did. He'd failed twice and at fourteen this was his last year whether, he passed or failed the exam. Either way attacking someone like that was a sure way to get yourself into more trouble than you could get out of. "I see, I would like to leave then."

Iruka nodded, "Thank you Neji… you probably saved her life. But I must ask you to keep everything you saw quiet, and if you wish to speak with someone then come to me. Alright?"

The young boy nodded blushing violently, he hadn't really thought about such a thing. He didn't think he would ever forget seeing a girl just a bit younger than himself lying lifeless in her teacher's arms. It would certainly change the flow of his life, and that of his clan forever,

Iruka sighed, before settling into one of the waiting chairs there was so much that needed to be explained… but he was more than positive that the Kyuubi now was either destroyed completely or locked away forever behind that seal of hers. The fox marks, the small whiskers that everyone had identified Naruto by were gone, was it because she'd successfully used Mokuton?

Iruka rubbed the scar that ran across the bridge of his nose, he felt a guilty… while he knew that there was very little he could have done he felt that he should have pushed for having Ozuru removed from the academy. The boy was either an idiot or thought that there would be no repercussions for attacking the "Demon" child.

Hiruzen frowned, as he walked toward the emergency pediatrics waiting room. When one of the academy teachers had rushed to his office in the tower, telling him that there had been an attack on two students. His heart had stopped Yakumo Kurama and Naruto Uzumaki had been attacked, Naruto was being rushed to the hospital by one Iruka Umino, he'd sent two ANBU squads to speak with witnesses, and another to inform Kakashi, while he headed straight to the hospital.

"Iruka, how are you my boy?" Hiruzen asked.

"Well enough Hokage-sama." Iruka smiled weakly.

"Thank you for getting her here." Hiruzen smiled, patting the young man on the shoulder.

"She would have died." Iruka stated, "If Neji Hyuuga hadn't been nearby, Naruto would have died."

"Explain Iruka." Hokage demanded.

"Ozuru… Ozuru used the Grand Fireball Jutsu, and attacked Yakumo and Naruto. Yakumo managed to get out of the way. Naruto… I don't know if she froze or if she was just that shocked, then I suppose a survival instinct kicked in. She pushed out so much chakra… she's only eight, but she pushed out more chakra than some Jounin's I know. And it completely drained her… I mean she had next to nothing left as far as her chakra reserves, she went into chakra shock. I found Neji just turning the corner at the end of the academy grounds wall, he pushed himself too hard to keep up with me to ensure that there was chakra flowing to her vital organs."

Hiruzen looked at the young man, he was so young but he looked so tried. Iruka had pushed for that particular Uchiha to be removed from the academy the year before after an angry temper tantrum of being denied a chance at graduation. Now there would be little choice, he'd attacked his sweet little granddaughter and an heir, whose clan was quickly bouncing back from several family tragedies. Six children had been born to the Kurama clan this year, while four more were already expected in the coming year, to attack nearly consigned the boy to death.

"You did well… I suppose I'm going to be speaking with Neji sooner or later?" Hiruzen asked.

Iruka nodded, "More than likely… I would like to suggest he'll be put in medical classes."

Hiruzen blinked, "Pardon?"

"He's a genius, Hokage-sama. His chakra reserves are large for his age, and his control is top of the line. Even for a Hyuuga, I would say his control is already on par with a chunin. With those eyes of his he's nearly unstoppable, I feel the Hyuuga clan will stifle his abilities by limiting him to their clan talents." Iruka stated slightly red in the face.

Hiruzen rubbed his jaw, trying to hide a grin… he'd never been so happy to have a teacher in the academy when he'd put Iruka in. The boy obviously knew what he was doing and seemed able to spot talent miles ahead of everyone, he'd even predicted Yakumo's improvement and Ozuru's anger issues.

"Iruka… you have very good instincts when it comes to children." Hiruzen smiled, "I would like you to take on more responsibility at the school."

Iruka blinked, there was a reason he'd asked to be placed as a chunin. After being in ANBU for several years, he'd simply burned out. He had taken a position as a teacher when the shinobi before him retired. "What do you want me to do?"

"I want to up the requirements for the genin exam, but that can wait for a later date." Hiruzen smiled, before looking up after hearing a whirling wind.

Kakashi stood there before the two of them with a very cold look on his face as if he was going on one of the many assassination missions he was known for in ANBU. "What exactly happened?"

Iruka almost flinched, he might not have been able to work with the Copy Ninja during his service in ANBU, but he understood that look very well. Finally Iruka spoke up, and continued to repeat everything that had happened so far. Taking a deep breath he continued, "There's only one thing I haven't spoken of. I suppose you are her guardian, Hatake?" Iruka asked, getting a nod; he continued, "Naruto… Naruto used Mokuton."

Both of the other men blinked, staring at Iruka as if he'd lost his mind. "That shouldn't be possible." Kakashi finally stuttered out, Kushina had never shown signs of using Mokuton and he knew for a fact that Minato's clan did not have a blood limit, both Kushina and Minato's families were proficient with seals but otherwise without a limit.

Hiruzen frowned, "I see… I'm not sure what to say to that Iruka. Neither of Naruto's parents had the ability, nor from what I understand did neither of their ancestors either."

"You know who Naruto's parents are?" Iruka frowned.

"Yes, yes I do. But for certain reasons that I cannot disclose, it would be a very bad idea to let their identity out." Hiruzen muttered, did this mean that Naruto was related to Tsunade? He had to admit, she did resemble his dear student though that was impossible wasn't it? Hashirama-sensei's descendents they had all lived in the village hadn't they?

Kakashi sighed, "What do you want to do about it Hokage-sama?"

"Well, we can't sit on it… I imagine a number of those children have already returned home and are speaking with their parents at this very moment. As such, it would be best to have a council meeting as soon as possible… it wouldn't do for them to try to force Naruto into their homes with or without correct information." Hiruzen stood calling one of the staff members over a man by the name of Shigure Mizuno, he ordered a genetic test to be run between one Naruto Uzumaki, and several members of the Senju, including Hashirama, Tobirama and Tsunade. Needless to say, Shigure was dumbfounded at the request. When he was ordered to confidentiality, he could only nod as the head of the hospital this could mean his removal or more funding.

"Hokage-sama?" A soft voice asked, it was an older woman roughly the same age as the Hokage. Her name was Minami, or simply known as Nami to many, "The girl the young man brought in… was she truly the Jinchuriki?"

"Yes, Nami, what has occurred?" Hiruzen asked, extremely worried.

"Well… it's almost as if the demon was destroyed." Nami continued, "the marks of possession… they simply don't exist anymore… and the chakra she's producing… it's so very potent."

"How will that affect her?" Kakashi asked, staring at the older woman in worry.

"She should be fine… and it shall slow the uncontrollable chakra growth." Iza smiled. "And it should allow her better control. Other than that I can't really tell you unless we have a Hyuuga look at her coils. She won't be waking up anytime soon. Her healing factor is the same, the Kyuubi can't speed the healing up anymore."

Hiruzen blinked in surprise, "Very well, Kakashi, Iruka… you two are to guard Naruto until further notice. I'll send someone to reprieve you in a few hours Iruka." The older man sighed as he rubbed at his cheeks, good grief, what the hell was going on in Konoha? He certainly hoped there were no more surprises coming in the near future, then again he wouldn't get any genetic test results until later in the day or early in the morning. Waving at the two, the older man continued he had a meeting to schedule with the clan heads, and a mountain of paper work with his name on it.

"Dolphin, emm?" Kakashi asked, looking at the younger man with an amused expression on his face.

"H... hai!" Iruka stood rim rod straight, his cheeks aflame before following Nami back towards Naruto's room.

Kakashi chuckled, highly amused so this was the infamous Dolphin, and he certainly was a cute little thing. When they arrived at the door, Kakashi immediately opened it and walked in he had to see his little maelstrom, he sighed slightly, seeing her like this hurt. Kakashi never would have imagined that in such a short time Naruto would become so ingrained in his everyday life. He could even find himself becoming flustered when the tiny blonde crawled into bed with him after a bad dream, or she klutzed out and broke something.

She was so pale… her little cheek marks were gone… usually they would be standing out against her skin. It was so strange to see such a parlor against those cheeks that were usually pink with excitement. Sighing, he ran a hand over feather soft hair "I'll be here when you wake up Naru."

Shaking his head softly, he left the room closing the door behind him. When he saw Iruka glancing at him out of the corner of his eye, Kakashi tried not to tease the younger man. But sometimes you just can't help it, "See something you like, Dolphy-chan?"

Iruka's face seemed to light up like a cherry, it hadn't expected something like that! How did Kakashi know Naruto? Not, only that but why was the man flirting with him? Though he wouldn't be the first or last ANBU rookie who'd had a crush on the infamous Copy Nin.

Kakashi chuckled, before leaning back against the side of the door he could only imagine what the Hokage was doing right now.

"So how do you know Naruto?" Iruka asked, they had been standing there for several minutes watching as a number of nurses walk by back and forth.

"I'm something like a guardian."

Iruka frowned, "Pardon?" It wasn't normal for an eight year old girl to stay with a young man.

"Naru is all alone… and she kept running away from the orphanage… so I volunteered to be her guardian… she's the closest thing I've got to my own kid." Kakashi shrugged.

Iruka tried to hide an amused smile, who would have thought that an orphan like Naruto would touch the heart of someone as indifferent as the copy ninja?

O

Choji never imagined that his day would turn out like today, never expected to see a confrontation like this, the danger of it until he was at least a genin. To see it at his school left him stunned, for the last hour and a half people had been getting interviewed by ANBU because someone attacked a student, a comrade in arms. It was one of those times he was very grateful that Shikamaru was his best friend.

Shikamaru was very rarely interested in anything but clouds and ways to get away from his very loud nagging mother. His lazy gaze studied the twisted vines that seemed to be covered in Naruto's chakra, it shouldn't be possible… and he was more than a little curious.

"I can't believe he did that!" A young female voice cried, from the sidelines.

"It makes you wonder about the Uchiha clan as a whole…"

"Don't talk about them like that!" A high pitched whine was pulled out.

"Sakura you can't tell me this doesn't change your opinion of the Uchiha clan… cuz it changes mine." Ino muttered, that had been more than terrifying she'd been positive the new girl was dead.

"I suppose." Sakura didn't want to admit it but it had frightened her more than she was willing to admit. "I do have to admit that I don't know if Naruto is going to be coming back to our class though…" Sakura began to gnaw on her bottom lip.

"What are you talking about Sakura?" Choji asked, a little concerned, he could see even Kiba had stuck around to listen.

"She obviously had chakra shock," Sakura stated.

"That could kill a kid her size." Kiba grumbled out, Akamaru whined in agreement.

"She is on the small size… and did you feel the amount chakra she pushed out?" Ino asked, she'd never felt so content and warm in her life.

"It was hard not to Ino," Shino finally answered, all of them turned too looked behind them. Not one of them had realized that the Aburame had stayed behind.

Ino grumbled, before speaking up again "I wonder how Yakumo is…"

"I dunno…." Choji murmured, he didn't know how he would feel if something like this happened to Shikamaru.

"I... think I..I'm go..goi..going t..to visit h..her." Hinata finally spoke, she was generally the quiet one of the group. She had a bad habit of stuttering, but she had a good heart and so the others didn't mind.

"I shall come with you, Hinata." Shino nodded, in agreement he was very curious about the younger girl and intended to speak with his father about the chakra Naruto had pushed out of her body. Several of his Kikai were snacking on the aftermath, and they were extremely happy the tree was full of warm delicious chakra and they wanted nothing more than to suck it dry.

Kiba thought it over, she was sorta cute and she smelled like a k-9 so she had to be at least a little cool, and he was more than a little curious. "Me too then."

"Gah! You're not leaving me out of this! It's perfect for info!" Ino had a pleased little smirk on her face, she was going to found out if this new girl had it for Sasuke! Or warn her off the Uchiha boy, she might not like the clan but the boy was still soooo cute!

"Grrrh, no way Ino-pig you'll scare her off!" Sakura scowled, before the two pounced on each other getting ready to get into yet another fight.

Shikamaru sighed, "I suppose I'm going to be dragged along," at Choji's nod the boy nearly groaned "Troublesome. I'll be there then."

Choji smiled in amusement his friend was always like that, "So everyone but Sasuke's going?"

Both Ino and Sakura twitched at the comment they didn't want the girl to be near their Sasuke!

Shikamaru tried not to snicker, while Kiba snorted before Akamaru began to make a coughing sound that was apparently amused laughter.

Several others who had been listening broke down into laughter before they dispersed many of them would go home to speak with their parents and others like Shikamaru would keep their thoughts to themselves.


	3. Missions, and a Council's Meeting

I don't own Naruto, it belongs to Masashi Kinomoto.

Beta: Romantic Princess

Thank you, My dear!

I would also like to ask everyone to check out my Profile (Tell me what you want to see there!) and some of my other stories~!

I want to thank everyone who reviewed, and commented! I would also like to ask those of you who didn't review to do so. I like criticism, and suggestions, more often than not they spur me on with different ideas and thoughts.

**AN: I want to let everyone know that until school lets out again, I shall be putting some of my stories on Hiatus. I'm giving everyone the ability to vote on what stories they want to have finished first. For more information or to vote please see my profile. This particular note only applies to my crossover readers…to those who might be reading some Fem. Naru.**

Chapter 3

Kakashi sighed, as he woke earlier today his little girl was attacked and he intended to demand punishment in the highest form. Even if it caused him to have another incident with the Uchiha clan, they had hated him and wished his death after the war and Obito's gift. There were only three members of that particular clan that he trusted one-hundred percent.

Yawning again he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, before for they rested on the clock it was getting later but thankfully he'd been released from his duty until they were sure that Naruto was stable. As his hand dragged across his face, he finally noticed something out of the corner of his eye, medium length brown hair was falling over his shoulder… and a slow grin slipped across his face. He'd never really taken the time to get to know one Umino Iruka… but now seemed like as good a time as any, the best part… the younger man was extremely cute.

Though he had to admit having a warm body snuggled up against his while waiting on his child, (and he had come to accept that Naruto really was his child after this incident). "Iruka-san," Kakashi spoke lowly, he didn't want to disrupt Naruto if she was anywhere near consciousness.

"Noo… sleepy… bad clock." Iruka just snuggled closer, he didn't know why it was so warm in his bedroom but he really liked it.

Kakashi snickered, oh yes… he know had blackmail material then again… maybe he could just use it to bribe the younger man on a date. "Now, now Iruka-san it's time to get up, I doubt you acted like this in ANBU." Then again he was never three hours late for anything while he was in ANBU either.

Iruka finally opened his eyes, he'd been sleeping so well it had been warm and comfortable… one could say it was the feeling of safety. Yawning, he began to blink at he looked up something was a little odd about his ceiling one it was this odd beige color and two there was a single eye staring down at him that seemed to be surrounded in black and metal.

As his vision began to clear so did his memory, he and Kakashi had both stayed with Naruto after the Hokage left earlier in the day. At some point the two of them had settled down on the couch to relax, he must had fallen asleep at some point while they were sitting. A slightly blush ran across his tanned cheeks, "I'm sorry for falling asleep on you Kakashi."

"Ahah, I don't mind… feel free to sleep all over me." Kakashi's grin grew at the blush that ran across the younger man's face. And for once he had to wonder why he'd never noticed the man before, they had met several times in the past both in ANBU and when things had been going down at the school for sabotage.

Iruka could feel his cheeks now flame to life, why was he so interested now? Did being around Naruto make that big of a change in his life? "Ah… would you like to go out to eat?" Maybe this would distract him…

"Ohh, are you asking me on a date Iruka?" Kakashi asked, practically purring in the smaller man's ear. He could feel Iruka shudder, hear his heart beginning to speed and he could even smell the nervousness and excitement wafting off the younger man.

"Noo… I mean,… yes… I mean…"

Kakashi chuckled, "I'll leave you alone, for now. Come on." Kakashi grabbed the Iruka's hand, dragging the man as he went. He knew exactly where he wanted to eat out, it was Naruto's favorite he often had to force the girl home to eat healthier food. He kept telling her that she was going to be short forever if she kept eating Ramen.

"Ichiraku Ramen Bar?" Iruka asked he'd finally managed to stop being dragged though he had to admit that he didn't mind having his hand held.

Kakashi nodded, "Yeah, it's something that's been here for most of my life." Between Minato, Obito, Kushina and then Naruto it had been hard trying to get Ichiraku OUT of his life.

Iruka raised a question eyebrow, "What do you mean?" He asked, he had to admit that he was more than a little curious about what was going on in the silver haired man's head.

"Kakashi… where's Naruto?" An older man questioned, he was as bald as a baby's bottom and somewhere in his fifties. He was a heavy set man who looked very much the part of a Ramen chief.

Kakashi felt his mood deflate, "She was hurt at school."

Teuchi scowled, "What happened?" The older man was a little over protective sometime but it just couldn't be helped, Naruto was a sweet little girl… when they could get the girl to stop cursing, not that anyone had gotten much success in that particular area of training.

Ayame frowned, "Well is she alright?" Both owner and waitress became worried, when both men looked toward the other and simply shook their heads in a silent no.

"She's in a coma, Ayame-chan… they say she should wake up but that they're not positive, if Tsunade-sama was still here it would be a different matter…" Kakashi answered finally, it hurt knowing he hadn't been able to protect her, he'd made a promise and he hadn't been able to keep it.

Iruka frowned, "That's true, but at least the assailant was caught… I'm afraid he's going to have a very harsh punishment placed on his head. Especially after this is all said and done." He added a thoughtful look on his face.

Teuchi sighed, he didn't really understand Ninja rules or regulations but he also hoped that the two youngsters in front of him didn't need to dwell on something that was obviously hurting them both. "Sooo what do the two of you want?"

"I'd like two large bowls of Miso, with a side of beef." Kakashi finally answered.

"A large pork for me, please." Iruka smiled, warmly in return. He's never been here before though it wasn't hard to believe that Naruto loved Ramen. She'd pointedly asked him shortly after they'd returned from lunch if they could go out to eat. He'd been surprised but had to answer honestly, there was no rule keeping the students here for lunch.

Teuchi smiled, it was large and warm just like his place it had been there since Sarutobi's range, it had been his daddy's now it was his. It would belong to his daughter, and he hoped it continued to stay in the family after he passed on, "I've never seen you here before." He commented looking toward Iruka in amusement.

"Ah, yes… this is the first time I've been but Naruto talked about this place today after school." Iruka responded, in kind.

The older man nodded, "She must have liked you then, that girl has the best person sensing ability I've ever had the delight to see in person."

Kakashi laughed lightly at the confused expression on Iruka's face, "Naruto… because of the way she grew up in the slums of Konoha. I think she knows innately those who are kind and good, she also seems to know the end of the spectrum as well… those who like to cause harm." Kakashi sighed, on more than one occasion the small blonde had walked into something that would have been safer to turn the other cheek to.

"How so?" Iruka frowned, curious.

Kakashi grinned, "Naruto might seem rough around the edges, but she's got a heart of gold. You don't know how many times while I was on her watch rotation, I would watch her bring animals of all shapes and sizes into that crappy thing that they called an apartment. Or even kids… the area she came from was cruel to children, so they tended to stick together, even with the so called demon brat. That's how she knows that Lee boy, Gai is so crazy about."

Iruka blinked in surprise, "Animals?"

"Yeah, last year she was wondering around the dump looking for something I don't really have an idea as to what it was. But suddenly she just stopped, looking around for something and pushed this piece of metal over, behind it there were three little kittens. She took them home, and took care of them, two of them she got Yugao to give away for her. And she kept the last… that damn cats going to go nuts when Naruto doesn't come home tonight." Kakashi sighed, that darn cat, Narumi was just as crazy as its owner.

Iruka burst into laughter, he could only imagine Yugao trying to give kittens away, and he wouldn't be the least bit surprised if she'd simply kept the two. "You make a good father, Kakashi."

Kakashi blinked in surprise before his cheeks like up red like a tomato. All three people nearby looked on with fascination, none of them have ever seen the relatively stoical man get that red before,

"Ah… my apologies if I over stepped my boundaries." Iruka sighed, he hadn't meant to bother Kakashi. But he'd seen firsthand how he cared for the little girl and didn't really understand how that didn't qualify as being a father.

"Ah, no I don't mind I'm just surprised." Kakashi replied, he rubbed the back of his head slightly in embarrassment. Both men seemed to go quiet after that, both of them lost inside their own thoughts and ideas. As they separated Iruka found himself wondering home to clean up for the next day, while Kakashi found himself walking back toward Naruto's room at the hospital.

Kakashi looked at the ANBU members outside her room briefly, nodding he walked through and closed the door. It wouldn't keep them from hearing what was going on inside the room but it would give him a sense of privacy and at this point that was really all he was looking forward.

"Hey, Naru. I gotta say kid you never do things the easy way do you? You're just like your mom… but you look so much like your dad." Kakashi felt a deep pain stabbing at his heart, there were so many good moments in his life, but they were almost always overshadowed by something horrible. This was just the thing he should be used to, when he'd graduated from the academy… nearly weeks later his father committed suicide, roughly a week after his promotion to Jounin, Obito was kill crushed by a boulder, the next instance was his excitement of being a big brother… followed by his second father and teacher, and remaining teammate during the Kyuubi attack. It was as if he had his own personal curse, created to take what he loved from him.

Kakashi looked up, an eyebrow raised as the door opened "What is it Tenzo?" He could recognize this particular ANBU member he'd worked with the younger man several times over the year. Besides calling him Tenzo always did get on his little juniors last nerve.

Tenzo could feel his eyebrow twitching in annoyance, even if there was no one to hear his code name that didn't mean that Kakashi could just throw it around like it was no big deal. Coughing to hide his irritation, he finally spoke, "The Hokage wants you at the tower, a meeting had been called between the Shinobi Heads, and I believe the civilian council is trying to sit in on the meeting."

Kakashi nodded, it was an unspoken message for several Jounins. When this message was passed, all those available were to be at the meeting to help remove the civilian council soon things were going to come to head and the Fire Lord would be informed of the transactions against the Hokage and his ninja.

Just thinking about what could and might happen to this meeting tonight was enough to get anyone's heart flowing Politician or otherwise. Looking over the small blonde once more, Kakashi did something that seemed very out of character for someone who worked in Assassination and Infiltration, long fingers brushed loose strands of hair away from Naruto's face before he kissed her forehead and promised to return with the coming hours.

Tenzo blinked in surprise, for as long as he'd known one Kakashi Hatake he's been nothing, but an efficient cold blooded killer and Captain of the top ANBU team known to the shinobi corps. Looking back toward two of the four ANBU members who had been assigned to watch over Naruto Uzumaki, he could tell just from their body language that they were thinking the same thing. Kakashi had found his heart again, and no one could really be certain what kind of change that would have on the ANBU itself.

O

Hiruzen looked over the assembled members of the council and felt frustrated and more than a little aggravated. Why the civilian council was even there he didn't know but tonight he and the Fire Lord was going to put a stop to this nonsense… and while he wasn't extremely happy that Danzo's Ni was still active he was going to start using it soon.

"Council… why is the civilians here?" Hiruzen's eyes narrowed on Homura and Koharu… he cared deeply for his teammates but their manipulations would be no more.

"They need to be informed of what is happening, Sarutobi." Koharu frowned, there was a look of disbelief across her face. As if she wasn't sure what to do with the fact that the Hokage was questioning her wisdom.

"Get out."

Everything seemed to pause at the anger and killing intent that came out with those to small words. Several clan heads seemed to do a double take as if they weren't certain that their hokage had spoken in such away to the civilian council, when they looked back many of them felt uncertain about this meeting.

"But Hokage-sama… we need to be informed about the de… aih mean Uzumaki-san… if she is a danger to people."

"Councilor Haruno, if you and your compartriots aren't out of this meeting chamber within the next ten minutes I will have all of you excicuted for Treason, is that understood?" Hiruzen asked, he was no longer going to be everyones kind grandfather, if he had to be the professor so be it. They had treated Konoha as if it was little better than a play ground for them to make money off them, no more.

Several of the smarter members of council took off immediately, the recognized that look a general leading his men into the third, some of them had seen him at his prime in the second war.

Several Jounins who'd been invited to the meeting had pleased expressions on there faces, they had no idea that over the next three years there would be major changes within Konoha. Konoha had been weak, and that was going to stop starting today.

"Take them to Ibiki." Hiruzen waved his hand, the Anbu at his command moved with something akin to light speed, those who hadn't believed the Hokage were truly regretting there decision to try to push the older mans buttons.

Danzo felt a cold smile creep across his face, it had been a long time since the God of Shinobi, the world reknowned Professor had made his appreance in Konoha. And it seemed as if those idiotic Uchiha had pushed his old teammate over the edge, and into a fury he himself had never seen before. He would have to thank them.

"Who would like to start this meeting?" Hiruzen finally asked, staring many of the members of the shinobi council.

Homura coughed roughly, " I would like to bring up the attack upon the Kurama heir today at the Academy, and some of the rumors surrounding this incident."

A sudden poof of smoke rose up behind the Hokage's left side, "Yakumo-chan wasn't the only one attacked, and I'm sure the Tsurugis' will be rather angry that one of their employees was attacked in such away. And needless to say I'm very upset." Everyone was listening to the speaker, then again when Dog spoke people tended to listen they just couldn't help it. That and you could hear the barely contained fury that seemed to radiating off the experienced nin.

"The Tsurugis'? What would they have anything to do with this?" Koharu scoffed.

Shikaku rolled his eyes, "Other than they supply rough half the supplies our shinobi use, absolutely nothing, this is so Troublesome." The man sighed, before dropping his head on to the table in front of him

"Ah..that right….Naruto rang me out when I needed some sealing scrolls. She certainly is a friendly one." Choza nodded, "She's been working there for the last two weeks after school and on the weekends I believe. I do believe Kenton will be very angry once Tenten gets home from school."

Several members of the room simply shuddered, Kenton Tsurugi was a master swordsman he'd helped create Hayate Gekko and Yugao Uzuki. Between his monstrous strength from his forge work and his talent with sword play he was one man that very few in Konoha wanted to piss off, it was rumored he and Ibiki Morino were the best of friends… which led to more questions than most of the Shinobi population wanted answered.

Murakumo Kurama finally spoke up, it was his daughter that was attacked and he was far from pleased with the outcome. Yakumo had come home in tears, thrown herself at her mother and told her that her first friend had been attacked at school and was now in the hospital. "While I can do nothing for Naruto Uzumaki at this moment, I offer her the protection of my house. From this point forward, anyone who attacks the girl will be attacking the Kurama clan. And let it be known that I will seek justice. As such I wish the Uchiha boy be put on trial."

For several moments things were quiet before it exploded into chaos, several smaller clans were shouting out disgust for the demon lover. Other larger clans could only look on with amusement, the Kurama Clan was rebounding from the war at a fast rate, and the current heir wasn't someone they wanted to get on the bad side of.

"I find it understandable that you would wish to punish the boy but he is also just a child." Fugaku spoke up a frown on his face, while he and his clan help great talent in the field of Genjutsu the only one with a massive ability in it was his son, and recently both he and Shishu could be found talking with things with a number of individuals that disagreed with how he ran their clan.

Tsume snorted, "If the boy was old enough to graduate then he was old enough to be considered an adult. Don't make excuses, that boy attacked part of the pack because he was angry and couldn't and didn't control his temper. Don't try to shift the blame on Naruto or Yakumo."

Fugaku practically snarled, "I said nothing about the girls."

Several head stared at the Uchiha head, before Hiashi spoke, "I think Tsume's point was that you were trying to ignore what your clan member did, it's not acceptable. As clan members of Konoha our children must be beyond reproach, even if Ozuru is from your branch clan he should have better control."

"So I should put a leash on them like you do? I would much prefer my kin to be free verses trapped under my feet like slaves." Fugaku snorted in contempt he doubted that he or the Hyuuga man would ever get along.

"ENOUGH!" Hiruzen roared, almost everyone was startled by the sudden anger, "This is not about who does what with their clan this is about the fact that Uchiha Ozuru has no respect for the members of this society. This Trial will be based on Innocence or GUILT, nothing else. Is that understood or should I send you out like children name calling in the hallway?" The cold amusement suggested that everyone involved leading up to said argument would be sent out… not one of them wanted to find out were.

"Tsuru, Saru… give the clan head your findings." He commanded, it had been a long time since people had jumped to do as he demanded and from now on they were going to ask how high until he was satisfied with how Konoha was run.

The ANBU member Saru shuddered, he was extremely glad that anger wasn't being sent his way. "Hai, Hokage-sama, At roughly 1602(4:02pm) hundred hours we were alerted by chunin Tatami Iwashi that there had been an attack at Konoha Ninja Academy, Tsuru and myself were deployed at 1605 hundred hours, we arrived at 1609 hundred hours from the ANBU base 3. Upon arrival Tsuru spoke with one Kurama Youko, and Tsurugi Tenten, both had seen what happened up close."

Tsuru continued, her voice was low and but strong soprano. "Kurama-san spoke about the two of them leaving and trying to find something to do before they both began to practice for the afternoon, Kurama-san for her genjutsu, Uzumaki-san for her part time job at Tsurugi's they had roughly thirty to forty minutes before they both needed to be places. During this conversation Uchiha Ozuru walked into the two girls, he promptly began to yell at Uzumaki-san. The two got into something of a disagreement, before the two girls turned and left leaving the boy there. After that it's a little blurry for Kurama-san because she was attacked from the back and just barely avoided being hit by the flame. Tsurugi Tenten on the other hand go a firsthand view as she was walking toward the two girls, Ozuru drew back in angry and used a fire jutsu more specifically "Fire Release: Grand Fireball"." Tsuru paused everyone could tell that she was disgusted by the actions of the boy though she was trying to keep her voice clear of that type of emotion.

Saru almost sighed, he knew Tsuru had a disdain for the Uchiha clan many people had after the war and what many people dubbed the "Obito incident." Or then again a lot of people had speculated about the fact that the Uchiha had lost little to none of their kin during the Kyuubi attack that brought up even more questions.

Looking toward the Hokage, Saru finally continued at the nod of approval, "Tsurugi-san stated that Uzumaki-san froze up with shock before a huge amount of chakra seemed to explode from her friend, apparently it was a brilliant shade of blue and green, before it seemed to dissipate into the air and run across the ground before it seemed to twist together before rising up in front of her to make tree trunks that was woven together like vines. She said it looked a lot like the Shodai's Mokuton, ANBU member Kuma confirmed the use of Mokuton."

"And how would he do this?" Inoichi asked, calmly.

Hiruzen waved at the members of ANBU telling them to calm themselves, "That is none of your concern Inoichi, just know that Tenzo was born from my students greed, as such he has qualifications than none in the village save Tsunade could have." A pained look ran across the wizened man's face and a quiet seemed to settle across the others as they contemplated what could have been done to the young man.

"Continue Tsuru." The Hokage barked

"Hai, Hokage-sama, upon having a confirmation of event we returned to base to file our report and findings." Tsuru sighed, leaving his statement.

"What happened to Uzumaki Naruto?" Choza asked, he was one of few clans that would sell to the small blond when she lived in the orphanage.

Saru nodded before flipping the file open, "According to Tsurugi Tenten, her teacher chunin Umino Iruka grabbed the girl as quickly as possible and took off toward the hospital, at one point he ran into Hyuuga Neji. He grabbed the young Hyuuga and gave the command to use his Byakugan to see her chakra coils because of his diagnosis of chakra shock. Promptly upon arriving at the hospital, the girl was rushed into the intensive rehab for the aforementioned diagnosis."

"Yes, Umino Iruka is possibly the best the academy has to offer… we're rather lucky to have him." Hiruzen chuckled. Several clan hands had to nod, the chunins' who had been in charge of their children had reacted in a quick and efficient manner.

"How many children reported the same thing?" Shikaku asked, he was a lazy man and if all the children gave the same report… well then it would be a pretty accurate guess of who was the guilty party.

"All of them, sir." Tsuru answered, and could almost feel his spine snap to attention at the looks that was given to him, as if they were questioning his ability to get a statement.

"I suppose that in and of itself is the answer to the question of Guilty or Not-guilty." Hiashi looked on surprised.

"How many children gave a report?" Fugaku asked.

Saru nodded, "Roughly 42, ranging from the ages of 8 to 13."

"A vote of guilt, or innocence?" The hokage had spoken with the information given they could in a solid and sedate manner give a vote of confidence.

It was a very easy vote, guilt would be the winning hand. "Now the question is what should the punishment be?"

"Removal from the academy… but other than that I'm unsure on this matter," Inoichi frowned, he wasn't sure how to discipline a child he was far more used to punishing cold hard killers.

"Seal what he loves most," Tsume had a cruel grin on her lips, "He uses his Sharingan, and his chakra to hurt others… so take them from him."

Danzo chuckled, at times like this he could appreciate Tsume's harsh views on traitors, "I second that nomination."

Several members blinked, others promptly began to pray the last time Danzo and an Inuzuka had agreed had been during the middle of the second war.

"I believe this is an appropriate action," Kurama finally spoke, a nod of approve.

It was eventually decided that Ozuru Uchiha would be sealed completely, it would leave the boy weak for several years, and it would also remove him from the shinobu program. This would also be humiliating to the boy, hopefully it would remove the idea that because he was an Uchiha he was above the law.

"I have a question, Hokage-sama?" Shibi finally spoke, very few knew that the Aburame were very curious beings.

"Yes, Shibi?" Hiruzen replied, an eyebrow raised high.

Shibi closed his eyes, before staring at the older man from behind his glasses "What about the heritage of one Naruto Uzumaki, for years you've said that you do not know. But it is quite obvious that we need to find out where the girl came from, if she had relatives that can or could use the Mokuton should be not invite them to Konoha?"

"There is also the question of the Kyuubi, Hiruzen. What has the use of Mokuton done to it, I heard that many of the nurses didn't even recognize the girl because she's lost her whisker marks." Homura finished, he had nothing against the girl. But if the Kyuubi had really been moved from this plain then he was very much for having the girl placed in someone's home, having an unbalanced Kunoichi was the last thing that Konoha needed at the point.

Hiruzen sighed, "I suppose today is the day that a number of secrets can be exposed, Inu. Remove your mask, tell them of your child. But before that, I do have the DNA test results in for Naruto and the Senju family. Point blank… it came back positive."

"But how is that possible Hokage-sama?" Choza asked, "I mean, in what way is, she related to the Senju?"

"She's a direct descendent to Hashirama… from what they have been able to figure out she's either a great-granddaughter or a great-great-granddaughter. From her mother's side…but considering that Naruto is the daughter of an Uzumaki it's rather interesting. Another notable interest… Naruto while related to Mito-san is not a child from her line." Hiruzen continued.

"That shouldn't be possible! Hashirama-sensei would never cheat or lay with another woman besides Mito-san, he loved her dearly." Koharu protested.

"Yes, but before Konoha was founded we know next to nothing about our dear teacher, Koharu-chan. This is why I would like to request that both Jiraiya and Tsunade be revoked of their unlimited traveling status. I want both of them back to figure this out, now versus later. If anyone outside the village were to find out that the Mokuton was once again within the walls of Konoha we would be at war if for no other reason that we have two members that can contain and to an extent control bijuu this would more than likely also roll over to their Jinchuriki as well. Both Tenzo-san and Uzumaki-san are in grave danger." Homura finally spoke up.

"Exactly, Homura. Will you help me find the correct Jonin for this mission?" Hiruzen at his teammates nod, felt a relief seemed to shudder through old bones. He was thankful that at least one of his teammates wasn't completely corrupted by the power that being upon this council had given Koharu.

Koharu could only agree, "What about the heritage of the Uzumaki girl, you know something." She continued, a look in her eye told them all that she wasn't going to let it drop.

Several members blinked, their Hokage had waved toward the ANBU member behind his seat, before watching the Inu mask being pulled from the face of a well known Jonin inside and outside of Konoha.

"Why has Hatake-san removed his mask?" Inoichi frowned, it was rare and dangerous thing.

"Because I've been removed from ANBU Inoichi-san, it's time I retired… I've been there for eight years I believe that is enough for anyone. And I need to be able to take care of the child in my care." Kakashi had stepped forward to be able to speak with the council.

"You've been taking care of Uzumaki-san for years, haven't you Hatake? Even when this council ordered you not to go near the girl." Shikaku stared at the boy; he really was just still a boy, a broken one… but still a boy.

"My sensei would never forgive me, and I doubt he would forgive you either for ignoring his last request." The barb left his mouth before he could stop it and he felt no remorse for returning it.

Hiruzen chuckled, Kakashi had a bone to pick with the council not that he could blame the boy. They had stolen his sister away from him for nearly eight years and he'd finally gotten a chance to keep her near and safe and he wasn't about to let it slip out of his hands. "Why don't you inform the council of Naruto-chan's known heritage, Kakashi… I'm sure that will add to their guilt. Just remember you aren't civilians, so if this leaves this room I shall be rather upset."

Kakashi bowed, before he began to speak, "There was only one Uzumaki in Konoha before Naruto, you all know her very well… and her love for our Yondaime Hokage… my sensei."

"Are you saying the child this village has ignored and tried to beat down is Kushina's?" Tsume was standing, she'd treated the girl well and often helped her escape from overly drunk civilians and on more than one occasion taken the girl out to eat.

"Shouldn't you know? She looks like a Kushina clone with Minato-sensei's coloring, who else would she belong to… who else would Minato-sensei seal the Kyuubi into?" Kakashi's gray eyes had turned to steel, and the anger that brimmed inside them spoke pain for a number of people. "Now my little sister, the child I've raised is in a hospital with a possibility that she will never wake up. This village failed, Minato… and they failed Uzushiogakure… and it's last remaining member… its heir. The fact that we all wear the Uzushiogakure crest on our uniform just amplifies our guilt."

Several members of the room flinched those who'd done nothing and ignored the girl's dangerous upbringing and some who had simply pretended she existed. "It should have been expected… considering she gives off a similar chakra signal in comparison with the two. I can understand why you would refuse to tell the council, Hokage-sama. I give my apologies, even if they are late Hatake-san. You are correct Minato would be ashamed, if not rolling in his grave at the thought of how she's been treated." Shibi stopped, he had to admit he took a rather sick pleasure in watching several members like Inoichi and Hiashi squirm, then again Fugaku looked horrified…he could only imagine how deeply the Uchiha clan head would be in if Mikoto ever found out her dear friends child was treated.

Kakashi just nodded toward Shibi, "I would like to be allowed to leave…I wish to return to Naru." He continued to stare around the room, there was really no need for him to stay. "I would also like to know Kushina's relationship to Hashirama-sama." Bowing, the younger man simply used body flicker to once again disappear.

"I suppose this is the curse of the Uzumaki clan," Hiruzen spoke, it was tired and old, "We've damned three generations of the Uzumaki clan woman to be the Kyuubi Jinchuriki…each time they were looked down upon, and each time this village tried to cast them out, Mito when this village was first founded, Kushina upon the destruction of Whirlpool, and Mito's death…and then Naruto…when her mother was attacked during birth….and the seal was broken. I dismiss this council, I would hope you all think upon your actions in the future. And think about what this means for that little girl many of you scorned, go home and wallow in your own plight." The Hokage turned, and walked back toward his office, before waving a hand the chamber doors were opened.

Several shell shocked and horrified clan heads left knowing that their perception of their own village and its people would never quiet be the same and they had to wonder how their children and clansmen would look at them when the story of Naruto Uzumaki was finally out in the open.

O

Sasuke sighed, yesterday had been hell a special kind of hell… his father had come, home angry and frustrated and he had done his best to stay out of the older man's way. While he loved his father and wanted his approval more often than not he felt a type of fear run up his spin were his male parent came into a room.

He'd heard things the day before that he knew that he wasn't supposed to, and what he had heard scared him. He knew what a coup was, he knew what it could do… they'd gone over the bloodline purges in class, they had also gone of the rebellion of the branch clan of Hyuuga and what had happened to them.

Sasuke was scared, but more for his friends and family what would happen when the hokage punished them. They were bringing shame on the clan, because they would turn on their home and he wasn't the only one who agreed that it was wrong.

He'd snuck into his brother's room the night before and talked with Itachi about what was happening, needless to say his brother had been more than a little surprised. After the long drawn out discussion Sasuke couldn't help but ask if he could stay with his brother for the night, Itachi had agreed a sad smile on his face before hugging his little brother close to his heart.

There wouldn't be a rebellion against the Hokage, at least not anymore, there was going to be a civil war within the clan and Itachi and Shisui were the first to oppose the way of their father. And they would be the first to die if Fugaku ever found out.

Shivering at the morbid thoughts, Sasuke focused on what was ahead of him school. Often times he found himself bored, and if he really wanted to he could probably test out, just like Itachi. But he did have to admit that his big brother had been extremely lonely before he'd gotten into an ANBU team, mainly because most of his classmates and teammates didn't understand his genius. But for Sasuke, Itachi was just Itachi.

"Sasuke!"

"Hey, Sasuke!"

"Sasuke-san… a… re… are y… you al… rii… right?"

Sasuke blinked, surprised to find himself surrounded by his friends, the kids that he hung out with on a daily basis and enjoyed talking to. They were a good reason to protect Konoha, not protect it because his dad was greedy, "What's going on?"

"They've only been trying to get your attention for like….awhile." Shikamaru huffed, why was he here? Oh that's right Choji and the others felt the need to drag him everywhere why couldn't they just let him be at the tree?

Sasuke rolled his eyes at Shikamaru's droll tone, "What did you all want?"

Kiba snorted, laughing when Sasuke started thinking, really thinking it was almost impossible to bring the guy back into reality, "They want to go see Naruto after school considering what happened, yesterday."

Sasuke blinked, "Yes, I'll be going. It was Ozuru's fault." The frown on his face seemed to get darker and held a sadness that very few of his friends would understand.

"I believe that we should make our way toward the class room, there is little time till the class starts."Shino sighed, as he was once more forced to remind the others it was time to leave. As the left toward the class room they all would have been surprised by the fact that ANBU members were now making around, near the Academy after yesterday's incident no one wanted something similar to happen again.

O

O

For most of the students of A-3 and A-2, it was like every other day. Several students were going to visit Naruto Uzumaki who had once been a pariah of the village, while another young man by the name of Hyuuga Neji was finally getting his answers.

For once, he was forgetting all about Fate and his hatred of the main branch of his family. When he wasn't focused on his hatred and hurt heart he was a smart kind young man with an inquisitive mind. And more than anything he wanted to know about Uzumaki Naruto, something about her was different if it was a charm or an internal kindness something about her was very, very different than the clan children or even the civilian children that happened to be in the academy.

"Umino-san?" A voice called from the door, Iruka found himself looking up from his desk in the teacher's lounge. School had let out roughly ten minutes before and he'd had the amused pleasure of telling several students, Naru's hospital room number.

"Yes? Oh, Neji what can I help you with?" Iruka smiled warmly at the smaller boy.

"You told me if I had any questions about Naruto Uzumaki I should come speak with you." Neji replied, and watched as a sad expression seemed to cross the young teachers face.

"Come along, Neji. Most of your answers are going to have to come from the Hokage himself." Iruka put his things away, before motioning for the boy to walk out. Turning of the lights and locking the two of them made their way toward the Hokage's tower.

"Neji, do you enjoy the Hyuuga style of fighting?" Iruka asked, glancing at the boy he could tell that he had managed to shock him.

Neji almost gaped, "That is almost a blasphemous thing to ask someone of the Hyuuga Clan, Umino-san."

"I'm not asking to tell your clan Neji, I'm asking because the Hyuuga clan is becoming stagnant." Iruka continued, he would known he own family had the ability to manipulate both sound and pheromones of the body. When the two technique came together they could nearly control someone without a person knowing, his clan had forgotten to expand on their knowledge and slowly other villages began to pick things up and the members of his family began to die as they were found out.

"Stagnant, Umino-san?" Neji asked curious.

"Stagnant, there is no growth within your clan Neji. In fact, the last time a new Jutsu or Taijutsu move came from the Hyuuga clan was during the second war. People are beginning to see the failing of the Hyuuga clan, that's why fewer of your members are returning home." The grim face on the older man's face made Neji mind pause.

"I see, the members of the branch families have been getting smaller. There were once three branch families… now there is one and there are only forty of us in numbers." Neji did have to take that in to consideration.

"And the Main branch? How many people are left in the main branch?"

"12, eight are elders, Hiashi, Hinata and Hanabi and a teenager I think his name is Hajime, Why?" Neji looked confused.

"During my time as a genin… there were two hundred Hyuuga living in the village… there are less that fifty-five members left, and if they seal Hanabi or Hinata into the branch family… the main family will eventually go extent. Neji… this was only six years ago… some one hundred and fifty of your kin has died in the last six years." Iruka continued, as the steps of the Hokage tower came into view, "Do you know why?"

Neji simply shook his head, he was shocked… he could remember there being a lot of children running around when he was a child, but he was the only one and the youngest child in the branch family, Hanabi the main… what was happening to his clan?

"People have found the weakness of the Byukugan and several have found the weakness of your clans Taijutsu, what happens when you've run into these types of people?"

Neji stopped to look up at the man, "You die."

"Yes, this is what happened to my clan. My parents and I were the last… when my parents were killed, I was the only one left… this will happen to your clan. If you don't begin to marry outside the Hyuuga clan and widen your skill set." Iruka frowned, "I don't want anything to happen to you or Hinata, and the children of the academy are like my own. Since I do not believe that I will have any of my own, because of this I wish to help you overcome the short comings of the Hyuuga. This is why clans like the Yamanaka and the Aburame are so strong, some of them are great at one skill set, yet others are better at another. Take the Inuzuka clan, some are good at Ninjutsu or Taijutsu… but others like Hana Inuzuka are good at Ijutsu (what is Ijustu?), one name Koga Inuzuka was a master of Kenjutsu, and yet another Akira was amazing at Genjutsu. Same clan, but a wide array of skills."

Neji listened, surprised he wondered if other members of Konoha realized what this man was talking about. But even if they did would they listen? What Umino-san explained to him, made a lot of since it would also explain why so many of his family or what was left of his family.

"Ah… Izumo… can you tell the Hokage that I'm here with Neji Hyuuga?" Iruka grinned at the man. He, Izumo and Kotetsu had known each other for ever.

"Sure, Iruka. Is this the one you said had talent?" Izumo asked, sending the message over the intercom.

"Hai." Iruka grinned.

Neji felt his face flush, why would Iruka think that he had talent? Yes, he was often hailed as a prodigy by his clan, but in comparison to Itachi Uchiha and others he and most of his class was average.

"Go right in, Hokage-sama was waiting on you. He said you shouldn't take your sweet time Iruka." Izumo ribbed lightly.

Iruka snorted, before putting a hand on Neji's shoulder he knew most of his students except maybe Naruto would be nervous meeting the Hokage. "Hokage-sama?"

"Iruka, come in. And this is Neji." Old black eyes studied the youngster in front of him, he was similar to most Hyuuga with his pale eyes and cool face in the face of the unknown.

"Yes, I was curious about the secondary red chakra pool that Naruto had." Neji stated with a frown.

"Now I would suppose you have questions about what happened yesterday, unfortunately that secret is S-class and no matter what I cannot tell you until Naruto herself knows, she will know if she ever awakens. On another note, I have a question for you Hyuuga Neji." Hiruzen voice seemed to change with the subject matter, he seemed dejected and depressed at the thought that Naruto wouldn't wake up be he seemed to have a sparkle of interest and amusement when he came to his question for Neji.

"Me?" Neji blinked in surprise, while he didn't get what he wanted he would definitely try to talk to the girl he was more than a little curious about the red chakra, though he did find it disturbing that she might never awaken.

Iruka laughed, "Yes, it's something very few students are offered."

Hiruzen smiled, "I was wondering if you would perhaps be interested in becoming a Medic-nin?"

"A medic nin?" Neji seemed surprised, "I doubt that my clan would allow it. Though, it would certainly be possible for me."

"What do you mean Neji?" Iruka frowned, curious.

"I've got a mutation… Hinata does as well… it's one of the reasons I was slated for the Branch house in the first place." Neji stated bluntly.

"What do you mean mutation?" Hiruzen asked.

Neji frowned, he really wasn't supposed to tell but at the same time if he wanted to be a proper shinobi of the village he should, right? "The Byakugan is only supposed to see inside a person to chakra coils, we aren't supposed to see organs, or veins, or nerve endings."

"Ah… this will just go along with what I want." Hiruzen smiled, "If your Uncle gave you permission, will you agree to be in the program?"

"What does the program consist of?" Neji replied, he was weary of just saying yes.

Iruka chuckled, "Really for the first several years it will be nothing but book knowledge and perhaps a few trial diagnosis periods. After graduation will be when the technical work begins, though you will be taught and tested over several medical jutsu, this is where your eyes and control come in to play."

"Then yes… I would like that… I don't…. I don't want to be like my father… and I don't want Hinata to end up like father either." Neji felt his fist clenching, his whole body was shaking.

Hiruzen sighed, "Neji, this is something very few would speak of, your father was a very good man and he was one of few Hyuuga that was light hearted and loved by the people and Shinobi of Konoha. When the council chose to send him, without telling the truth, they lost a large amount of love from the civilian people. Because of this and the kindness and sweetness of Hinata, if they seal her, I believe that they would seal the fate of the Hyuuga clan.

The Hyuuga Council is much like the civilian council, they are set in their ways, and they are afraid of change. Most of them are my age or older… by the time Hanabi or Hinata gain control of the house of Hyuuga, there will only be three or four main house members. As such it might be too late to save your clan, it's one of the reason's I bullied Hiashi into allowing you to be a medic nin."

"What is the truth Hokage-sama?" Neji asked.

"You're father, loved his brother dearly. Though Hizashi knew that he would be leaving you behind, he would also be gaining his freedom, love is sometimes a double edged sword. You will unfortunately learn that as you grow. Do not step on his love for his brother, and clan." Hiruzen felt tired and angry with Hiashi for not sitting down and talking with his brother's son.

Neji sighed, he didn't know what to think about everything the Hokage and Umino-san spoke to him about but he would think about it. "I will agree if Hinata can come with me."

Hiruzen chuckled for all the boys pomp and circumstance, he was still dependant on his family "Very well, Neji. I will make the arrangements."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama." The boy bowed, smiling at the dismissal he left his heart felt a lot lighter than it had before.

"Iruka… this generation, I don't think we're going to have another quite like it." Hiruzen grinned, as he pushed chakra into his crystal ball. He studied Naruto's room, Kakashi was going to be surprised when he returned to the room.

O

O

Yakumo sighed, both she and Tenten had been there for the last ten minutes and they were both a little depressed at seeing their friend. She couldn't help but study Naru, her bright blonde hair was spread around her a lot like a golden back drop that just seemed to emphasis the face that her golden skin was pale and almost ashen in color, the three little whisker like marks that were on her face had disappeared and those vibrant blue eyes of hers that always seemed to be so full of energy were closed making her look lifeless and empty.

"You know I can't decide what makes this worse… how lifeless she looks or the fact that she's hooked up to so many tubes…" Tenten frowned, sitting on one side of the bed. Her elbows were on the edge of the bed and her chin was resting in her palms.

Yakumo sighed, nodding "I agree… I think the worse is that she's not moving."

At the light knocking on the door both girls turned and were surprised when they saw Rock Lee slowly opening the door. It was strange for them because he'd apparently gone home and changed, he was wearing simple gray Chinese style pants and slippers, with a white t-shirt and a dark green hoody. For once his long braid was completely free and falling over his shoulders, his hair was almost as long as Naruto's.

"How is she?"

Tenten blinked, this was probably the most subdued she'd ever seen of her Taijutsu bound classmate so subdued. "The doctors' won't tell us anything… they said we have to wait for one of her guardians to tell us anything, something about patient confidentiality."

"Oh… that's not very helpful." Lee frowned, he had to admit he was very worried about his friend. He'd known Naru before the academy, they hadn't really had a lot of time to spend together after they'd both joined, from his training in Taijutsu to her violent need to be number one.

"I agree." Yakumo frowned, "Why don't you sit down Lee? I heard that her Guardian will be back soon."

"Ah, thank you. Kurama-san," Lee smiled warmly before sitting.

"You know there's a lot of room in here… for someone who grew up in eastside, Naru must have gotten a really good Guardian to be able to afford this." Tenten stated, looking around the room. It was at the top of the hospital in one of the VIP suits from what she could see like for clan heads or ANBU members when they were sick.

The three of them turned again at the sound of the door opening, in the door way was a number of students, "I didn't realize Naru had become so popular." Lee stated, eyes wide at the number of children.

Sasuke sighed, "I wanted to know how she was… I..." The Uchiha just shook his head, he couldn't really explain himself.

"You did well, yesterday." Yakumo smiled.

"That's true… a lot of people wouldn't have told the truth if you hadn't." Tenten stated, looking over the younger boy he didn't seem as bad Yakumo made him out to be. Then again neither she nor Naru probably had a chance to get to know the boy considering how often he was surrounded.

"Sooo, Yakumo who is everyone? Lee and I don't know them..." Tenten continued, and had the pleasure of watching the girl flush violently in embarrassment. Unlike Yakumo, Tenten had been raised as a normal girl whereas the other girl was raised as a clan heir as such reminding her about forgetting protocol sometimes got her flushed.

"Don't tease me, Tenten." Yakumo pouted.

"I think we can introduce ourselves," one boy said a wolfy grin on his making the triangles on his face jump and roll, "I'm Inuzuka Kiba, nice to meet ya! Just call me Kiba though, I'm not one for formality."

"Aburame Shino, I would prefer Shino." The boy leaning against the door spoke, dark sunglasses cutting across his face and his large color covered the bottom on his face, all you could really see was a high forehead and a mass of hair that was similar to an afro in shape.

"I'm Yamanaka Ino, and this big forehead is Haruno Sakura." A girl with one long band falling over one eye yelled, and light blue eyes, the girl she was pointing at had large green eyes and bright pink hair. The two girls promptly began to argue, and everyone tried their best to ignore the two of them.

Sasuke smiled weakly, "Uchiha Sasuke."

"I'm Hy… Hyuuga… Hinata." The short dark haired girl blushed wildly when eyes landed on her, before covering her face with her hands.

"I'm Akimichi Choji, and this is Nara Shikamaru." The largest boy both in height and size smiled, his hair was short and a light brunette in color. His friend was just as slender and the same height, his hair was a dark brown color and was in the shape of a pineapple.

"You guys already know me, but these are friends of Naruto. Tsurugi Tenten, and Lee Rock…" Yakumo smiled slightly at the others.

"Everyone just calls me Lee… and I think Tenten would violate someone if they called her Tsurugi-san." Lee barely dodged a well aimed Kunai.

"Why do you and Naru keep ragging my abilities?"

"We aren't… you're just dreadfully scary with a weapon Tenten."Lee finally said.

"Mah, mah… I'm gone for fifteen minutes and the room multiplies children!"

All the children jumped before they looked back to see and extremely tall silver haired man, one dark gray eye gleamed at them with amusement while the other was covered was a slanting Hitai-ate. "I suppose all of you have come to check on Naru then?"

"Is she going to be alright?" Yakumo was up, and in front of the young man in a second the worry was easy to see on her face.

Kakashi sighed, as he looked over a number of hopeful faces and felt like he was about to take away some of the hope that lived in their young lives. "I want all of you to sit down, before I continue… because you will not hear what you want." He could see the Nara boy's eyes narrowing on him, when he nodded he felt his heart constrict when he saw the sad understanding there.

Rubbing his visible eye, Kakashi moved before taking a seat beside Naruto putting away his book he looked over the room. They were too young, but they would be better off if they understand the possibilities now in comparison to later.

"When Ozuru attacked, Naruto pushed out enough chakra that it was mid to high level jonin in size. The problem is the potency of Naruto's chakra, while Iruka was able to keep her heart and internal organs going…. he didn't have the potency or the correct density of chakra to give it everything it needed. As such, Naruto's body has gone into a coma… there is no telling when or even if she'll wake up, only someone with the level of Tsunade's chakra control could condense chakra to the right level to get her out of this. Right now her body is in a severe form of chakra exhaustion."

Several of them were wide eyed, and seemed to be disbelieving of what they were being told, "And Tsunade is more than likely going to be called back… because the Hokage favors Naruto." Shikamaru stated, "And because there are questions about Naruto's heritage… right?"

"Hmmmm, you're a bright one… you must be Shikaku's boy… I cannot deny or confirm, just know that you have a very good understanding of council." Kakashi replied, before brushing loose strands of hair away from Naruto's face. "I'll be leaving you with Naruto for the moment, please watch over her." Bowing, the older man disappeared.

"What was that about Shikamaru?" Sasuke asked curious.

"There's a possibility that Naruto is related to Tsunade Senju. The Mokuton, or the ability to manipulate trees is a Kekkei Genkai specific to the Senju clan. As such she should be informed of the possibility of having family… but Tsunade also swore to never return to the village so I can only assume that Hokage-sama is going to do something drastic to get her here. So it's possible that Naruto is a descendant of our founding Hokage… this is all so troublesome..." Shikamaru huffed, he'd gone over his daily quote of speaking today. Waving at his friends he left, he needed to be somewhere far away from here.

Several of the children left, they needed time to be alone after such depressing and rather serious conversation. Many of them said that they would be back tomorrow, others simply stayed and they ended up talking with one another until they were politely told to leave that visiting hours were over.

O

O

Hiruzen raised an eyebrow, he'd stopped watching after the Nara boy said his piece and he had to admit that the boy was swift in a way that was nearing light speed. He had several missions that needed to be done, one that unfortunately only Kakashi could take care of. Looking over the three men in front of him he felt pride and sorrow welling up inside his heart, "I have to missions to give, Asuma, Genma I need you to deliver this to Tsunade. What is written inside should give her the need to come back and if nothing else this second letter will, I've gotten a message from Jiraiya and he'll more than likely be back as soon as possible."

Asuma sighed, he didn't want to die but sometimes you had to do what you had to do, rolling his eyes as Genma's grown of sorrow, he grabbed his fellow jounin by the back of his vest and dragged him behind all the while listening to the Senbon chewing man's complaints.

"Kakashi… I need you to go to the Land of Water supposedly Aoi Rokusho is there and I want to regain the Raijen no Ken, it's time the sword of Tobirama-sensei is returned to Konoha. I've also got to call Ibiki here… Idate's body has finally surfaced…" Ibiki had gone so far to try to recover his brother alive after he'd been tricked by his jonin-sensei… it was unfortunate that the boy was finally home sealed away in a scroll. Idate's death would hit his brother's heart very harshly. "Even if he isn't… I want you to hunt him down. I want his head on this desk."

"Hokage-sama, what about Naruto?" Kakashi looked more than conflicted; he looked horrified, as if the old man had asked him to go kill a basket full of kittens.

"I'm sorry, Kakashi. I must ask that this be done." Hiruzen sighed, "I can get Iruka, Izumo and Kotetsu to watch over her until you return."

A huff of frustration left the silver man's mouth, Aoi Rokusho was going to die a slow painful death. "Hai, Hokage-sama. I'm going to make a few requests, and I'll take my leave." Nodding towards the older man he left the Hokage alone while heading toward the window to take off towards his home.

Hiruzen sighed, and could only hope that the girl would awaken soon, and that Tsunade would return as well so that they could have more answers about Naruto. But then again he would have to learn more about his dearly departed sensei as well… sighing, the hokage removed his robes and hat, and left his office his grandson was still young enough to stay at home and for such a stressful two days this seemed like a good day to unwind. Looking over the office, the old hokage locked the door and sealed the room, only his blood would open it again. Grinning to himself, he practically skipped toward Misato's house were his sweet little Konohamaru and his daughter in law Shouko waited to be seen.


	4. Chain Reaction Day One

I don't own Naruto, it belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

**I'm so sorry that this took so long to get up and there shall hopefully be more updates in the future and a much faster pace at least until school starts up again.**

Chapter 4

Hiruzen sighed as he looked over a few of the members of his Shinobi council after everything had been said and done the members of council had gathered together and they were now pouring over everything that could be found in the Hokage and Jonin's libraries about the Senju family. This had started at nearly 4 am that morning and it hadn't stopped. While normally he wouldn't allow certain persons such high clearance he had allowed Shikaku Nara, Shibi Aburame and Murakumo Kurama and Tsume Inuzuka, he wasn't about to allow the Hyuuga clan or the Uchiha clan into this archive it would be like asking for the headache from hell.

"Oi, how about a break old man?" Tsume asked, finally standing it was roughly the lunch hour and the four of them had been working nonstop. The worst part was when she finally got out of that bent over position her back started popping like there was no tomorrow.

Shikaku sighed, looking over at his fellow clan head "I must to admit Hokage-san I was wondering if we could take a break."

Hiruzen chuckled, "Haven't I told you before Hiruzen is just fine, Shikaku? Either way yes, let's take a break…I suppose most of this shall have to be done in the mornings won't it? I have more…hell," the Hokage continued glaring at the growing pile of paper work. "And I imagine that you all have duties that must be attended to as well."

All four members sighed, sometimes it was no fun being the one in charge making sure that the finances of both their clans and Konoha. It was something that they all wished they could foist off onto their civilian counter parts, but they all knew that would just give that group of cowards, more of an inflated heads than there currently held at this point..

" I suppose I should send a note to Jiraiya today as well." Hiruzen finally spoke up as the four heads began to gather their things. It would take them months possibly years to be able to get through everything hidden away in the Hokage's library. Not to mention that once Tsunade came home they might be able to get access to the Senju library, he was relatively sure that was the only way he was going to get the type of information that he wanted.

Shikaku blinked, "Hasn't he been checking up on Naruto every few months?" He finally asked, looking over at the Hokage in surprise. He'd originally assumed that Jiraiya simply came to check up on the seal, but the older the girl got the more it became apparent that she looked like Kushina, had her mother's personality, and her father's brains and coloring. But he'd kept his mouth shut, Minato would have come back from the grave and killed him if Naruto became the toy of some political nightmare.

Hiruzen nodded, "Indeed." He could only agree and he honestly didn't have a clue was if Naruto had actually met his pervert of a student. Somehow he tended to doubt it, she would have been up in arms with self-righteous anger about perverts….and he could only laugh internally at the thought of Naruto's hormones being awoken.

The clan heads all nodded before shuffling out of the room to give the Hokage the privacy that he seemed to yearn for, though Tsume had to wonder if he just wanted to read his porn. If the old man really thought they hadn't figured it out then he was senile or in denial.

Hiruzen watched them go, before going through a practiced hand sequence before a young monkey appeared within his office. "Hello, Hajime."

"Yo, old man! Watcha need, don't you usually call gramps?" The young white furred monkey asked looking at the old human with a curious expression.

Hiruzen rolled his eyes, it must the day of old men…this was the eighth time he'd been called that and it wasn't past one yet! " I need you to deliver a message for me."

Hajime blinked, his dark intelligent golden eyes seemed to have a hidden question hidden there. "Is it for that old perv?"

Hiruzen snorted his amusement, "Yes, Hajime it's for the old perv."

"Meh…I guess I'll give it to Gamakichi then…they aren't so far away and I won't have to hunt that smelly guy down." Hajime huffed lightly pushing a large amount of air out of his nose in dislike. Honestly that human male always smelled like sex but the gross thing was it was never of his own copulation…no one in the Monkey Summon clan got it and they didn't want to.

Hiruzen sighed, a frustrated expression on his face "Thank you, Hajime and tell Enma I said thank you." The poof of smoke was all that left at the young white furred monkey went to do as he was asked. Closing his eyes and trying to ignore the head ache that was seemed to be exploding at the temple of his head he sighed, before pulling out his stamp and starting to work on his paperwork. Looking out the window he sent up a brief prayer for Kakashi and his son, Genma to for that matter. Kakashi had left late the day before, while Genma and Asuma had left at around the same time he'd gotten up to open the Hokage's Archives.

O

Genma and Asuma knew when they left Konohagakure they would have a hard time finding Tsunade but they never imagined the insanity that would come their way once they left the confines of the city's barrier and it's protection. Apparently they weren't the only ones after Tsunade and she'd gotten into more than a little bit of trouble, because some of the people trying to collect weren't the sort they could see the busty blonde ever asking money from.

Not only that but, Genma was having the same amount of difficulty with this mission as he was both of them wanted to return home but for different reasons. Asuma was getting to know a young woman by the name of Kurenai while Genma was going to be a daddy in the next few weeks, honestly it made the older man freak out at the thought that Suiren his current love interest going into labor when he wasn't there.

Asuma had to wonder if his father wasn't just trying to get Genma's mind off things, then again he didn't blame the older man. He'd sent Kakashi off after Aoi off all people…Kakashi had hated the pompous younger man and Asuma had no doubt that Kakashi would be killing him with the precision he was known for in ANBU. He shuddered at the black cold rage that had seemed to surround Kakashi after he'd left the Hokage's office. He was one of few members of Konoha that could get that close to the man when he was in such a state. Gai stated that he'd gone and asked Naruto's two little friends and Iruka her new teacher to sit with her while he was gone.

Then again, Kakashi did consider the girl to be his little sister/daughter hybrid relationship, the younger man had softened up in the almost month that they had been allowed her to live with him. And that brought Asuma back to the mission at hand, what would Tsunade do once she learned that she had a relative left? Would she try to take Naruto from the village? And if the woman did what would happen to Kakashi? Not only that but if Naruto did wake up how would she react to everything or would she even be told that she was directly related to three of Konoha's four Hokages?

"Asuma, you're thinking out loud again.." Genma glared lightly, he was not amused with his current partner's ideas or thoughts. He liked Kakashi happy, he was a lot more fun to get along with not only that but he DID indeed want to go back to his girlfriend and see her with her swollen belly.

Asuma sighed, "Sorry…this is getting a little out of hand."

Genma nodded in agreement, "I agree…I really don't want to face Tsunade sober or drunk." Both men grimaced at the thought of what the strength enhanced one woman could do to the two of them.

"Anyway, how's Suiren?" Asuma asked, the two of them had been on the same genin team and they'd stayed friends long afterward. They were part of a group of Jounin's that were always around the other, both Gai and Kakashi were part of this group but both of them tended to prefer Kakashi…he was oh so much calmer.

A small slightly dirty grin ran across the Genma's face, he loved his girl friend more than one could imagine. While many said horrible things about the his lovely lady, the two of them often ignored it…he was twenty-five, she was eighteen this happened to be the biggest part of the contention at least for the civilian side of things. Eighteen, young and oh so beautiful with her deep black hair and soft gray eyes he had a hard time not loving her big heart. Not only that but she had a figure to kill for, they both agree she would stop using the public hot springs mainly because he'd found her figure and face in the comic version of Icha Icha, no one had wanted to kill a white haired sannin as much as the two of them.

"Very very pregnant…we're having twins." Genma grinned happily, Raido and Aoba had been ragging on him like crazy while the rest of his friends had wished him the best.

Asuma blinked in surprise and some amusement at the gooey happy face Genma was making and he had to wonder at the difference a woman like Suiren made on his life. Then again Asuma new it had to have taken some time for Suiren to trust anyone…on her first upgraded missions her jonin sensei left her behind thinking she was dead. Nearly a month later she stumbled into Konoha looking broken but having completed the mission that her former teammates had abandoned her on.

"So boys or girls, or both?" Asuma finally asked, soaring through the trees beside Genma. It seemed like they had been running for hours and both members were getting tired not to mention they'd run between asking about Tsunade through the few villages they had passed and the occasionally enemy ninja things had been going smoothly, but neither men could find rest both felt the quiet before the storm.

Genma shrugged, "Sui didn't want to know…said she wanted a surprise. I don't really care what we have as long as the three of them are healthy at the end of it." It was a solemn comment one that Asuma could understand well, many Kunoichi had a hard time conceiving and an even harder time carrying the baby to full term, it was why women like Mikoto Uchiha and Yoshino Nara retired after giving birth..

A sudden noise to their right stopped all conversation, both men paused before they seemed to simply blend in with the back ground. Two men with strange head bands seemed to be moving about, both seemed to be looking for something in particular but what it was couldn't be seen.

"Nee, Jiro why are we going after these bastards?" The darker haired male asked, he was a chunin and damned good at what he did.

"Syuichi shut the hell up." Jiro replied, his bald head was covered in a thick bandana that had the metal plate of his village. He was a big hulking man larger than the sannin Jiraiya and built very much like a rock. Muscles seemed to ripple with every move the man made, one would assume that the man was slow but you could tell by his light and quiet movements that he had speed and strength on his side of a taijutsu fight.

Syuichi huffed as he looked toward his partner he didn't understand why he needed to be quiet he couldn't feel anyone about. Cold vibrant green eyes glared, he hated being told what to do but Jiro so rarely gave him an order that he really couldn't be mad… "Neee, Jiiro….come on at least tell me what this is all about…." Syuichi climbed on the back of the big man happy to hang from the thickly muscled man.

Jiro sighed in frustration, "Ah…apparently Orochimaru-sama's experiment survived."

A frown fell over the younger man's face, "Which one? He left several in Konoha…including that moron Mizuki." It was a feminine face, Syuichi was one of the best at seduction be they man or woman….even if he preferred big beefy man meat like Jiro.

Jiro snorted softly in scorn, none of Orochimaru's soldiers could stand the double crossing spy "The boy with the ability of Mokuton…he's supposedly a child that had been grafted with the DNA of Hashirama…it's nothing short of a miracle that the thing survived…more importantly according to one of our sources a child has reawaked the Mokuton. A child naturally related to Hashirama….Orochimaru-sama wants him or her." Jiro shrugged, he honestly didn't care.

"Baw! That's not why we were called in." Syuichi replied coolly, before his green eyes went wide before they began to die. Two senbon needles were thrust through his neck, blood tricked down in a virtual river another was thrust through his esophagus it pinned the two sides together at his spinal cord… Jiro was no better several Kunai littered his neck ensuring that the big man died.

Both Konoha ninja re-emerged from the trees both frowning, from what the Hokage had told them only the hospital staff and clan heads knew anything about Naruto let alone Yamato. With in seconds both Leaf ninja moved from where they'd emerged, both holding up a simple hand seal before dispelling the genjutsu.

"Mah, mah…Jiro! They tried to kill me in a horrible way….!" The small man pouted cuddled up against his partner's chest faux tears pouring down his flush childish cheeks

"Now, now Syuichi…I suppose we'll just have to repay them no?" The big man grinned, his sharply planned face cruel and excited at the thought of destroying them. He recognized one of them very well, "We seem to have a little fire Guardian! Why don't I play with him neh? You can get Daddy….maybe we can get Daddy's babies and wifey after everything's over with…she sounds like a good breeding toy."

Syuichi pouted slightly, before an amused expression took over his face "Can I keep Daddy to? I need to practice, yes?

Jiro chuckled, "Sure why not…." He had no doubts in his mind that Syuichi would rape the man over and over again…they were both sick bastards that way.

Genma felt his blood run cold, Suiren was in a vulnerable condition and he wasn't about to let some sick bastard touch what was his. Soft chocolate eyes became hard, as he focused on the smaller man, he could feel Asuma beside him coiling up ready for the fight to get started. There was a similar calm rage in the man's heart and he could understand it, Yamato was another dear friend the thought that Orochimaru was interested in the young man and the young child Naruto was a terrifying thought.

Asuma was off his trench knives ready as he studied his opponent, this fellow was bigger than him and he didn't recognize the man in any bingo book he'd seen. Then again he didn't recognize the music note on the man's head band either. "So were you to from?" Asuma asked with a cool that he didn't feel.

Jiro chuckled, "I suppose I could tell you…" Thick arms were covered in plates of steel, while short daggers were held within the man's hands. He lashed out aiming for Asuma's stomach, Asuma jumped up again away. Using his control he attached himself to a tree before a earth shattering kick splintered the tree, using a cat like grace that was rarely seen Asuma twisted in air to drag his wind covered trench knives over the huge bastards shoulders.

Blood splurged forward, before Asuma was slammed backwards by a large forearm landing on his feet and sliding backwards he had to catch his breath from the sharp pain that seemed to resonate in his chest . Asuma looked up, and took a grim satisfaction in watching the blood spew over Jiro's chest soaking his mesh suit. The bigger man was grinned like a mad man and it made Asuma wonder what he could be thinking.

Just as suddenly the two of them disappeared, the wind in the area seemed to pick up before several blue flashes seemed to rise up. The blue flashes were always followed by the sound of metal slashing against the armored forearms, yellow and red sparks seemed to fly when Asuma's trench knifes came into contact with Jiro's fingerless gauntlets.

Suddenly they were both over come with a large ring of fire and a storm of poisonous senbon needles followed by a large misting of the thick purple stuff. Syuichi was covered in it. Just as suddenly long thin wire made of chakra seemed to cover the grounds. One by one they tripped the others, wrapping both Syuichi and Jiro in the middle of what was left of the clearing.

Asuma grinned to himself in cold amusement, Genma was pissed not if he did this when they had jonin assessments he wouldn't be on the edge of being demoted to Tokubetsu Jonin. Just as suddenly, he watched Genma land down beside him this was one of the few fights that would be short. "Fire Release: Dragon's Breath Technique!" The man seemed to fly through the hand seals before a large flame probably the size of the Konoha's hospital seemed to fly over the poison lighting is a flame making it burn faster and harder. Instead of a normal red orange is was a bright sickening green color almost a bright lime, by the time it settled and the burning had stopped all that was left happened to be were two crispy corpses.

Asuma stared in nothing short of amazement as he looked over the area it was completely blackened, kicking lightly he sighed when all that was left beneath the gray black ash happened to be the chocolate color of the earth. "Don't you think you over did it a little?"

Genma snorted, spitting his senbon out lodging it several inches into Syuichi's forehead "I think it was justification. We need to send a message to Hokage-sama as soon as possible…Orochimaru already knows about Naruto and Yama-chan…and he was trying to keep us from getting to Tsunade…apparently he fucked with the Kazekage and the man crushed both his arms and ruined his leg."

"I take it Syuichi-chan had a mouth…and when did you set up that trap?" Asuma asked, before pulling out his supplies to seal the two bodies away. There would be memories inside Jiro's mind if he was put into stasis….he wasn't to sure about Syuichi there was a Senbon needle three inches into his skull. Shuddering at the bodies, Asuma looked at his long time friend and decided he would never mess with the man's children. "Let's go."

Genma nodded, before following after Asuma, to be honest he felt like he was going to vomit at what he'd done. But he didn't feel any regret, the less people outside of the village who knew about his woman and children the better. The two of them went quiet that had a hint that Tsunade might be in Minoa…the sooner they found her the better.

O

Jiraiya grinned, as he looked over talked with one of his contacts in the red light district. This was one of the best ways for him to get information, Ninja especially men talked after sex and sake. Most of the women knew he was off limits simply because he wasn't the least bit interested in having sex with any of them, he might be a perv that spied and gave the occasional grope but there were only two women he'd happily and cheerily fuck.

One happened to be his old teammate, and another a woman who'd rocked his world every time he returned to Konoha. Miharu Hasegawa was a thick hipped, big breasted woman that was always willing to meet him in the confines of her Konoha apartment. The looks Kami gifted her with wasn't anything to laugh at either deep, violet bedroom eyes or hair the color of silver just the thought sent his heart racing. She was a teacher at the academy and an expert in the art of seduction and genjutsu, she also happened to be the top assassin in the Anbu corps and had been since before little Hatake had made his name known. As always she had a saucy grin and laugh ready for the select few that came knocking, and he was to his knowledge the only man that got to be squeezed by the iron grip of her snatch (he liked it that way and so did she).

Cackling slightly at the thought and more than a little bit ready for his next visit home, he could only sigh as a new girl tried to talk her way into his room. He had to admit she was pretty but then again he was more than ready to return to Miharu and bury his face in the plump mounds that belonged to him. Pushing the dirty thoughts away he turned the corner to his hotel room, once he was back where he needed to be he could only sigh before laying out on the comfortable futon.

He'd been drifting off when an over done poof of smoke rose up around him, and he was pulled from the hotel room by a webbed hand. Sometimes he really hated having a summoning contract like when they pulled him on to Mt. Myoboku, without warning sometimes they sent Gamakichi but most of the time it was like this a quick puff of smoke and a ringing in his ear and he was gone.

The toad sage blinked roughly looking up at the giant toad he was more than a little baffled, "What in the world is going on?" Several of the toads were looking at him with worry, they knew just like Sarutobi new that this would more than likely push the toad sage into angry and while they teased Jiraiya they did love and care for their summoner.

"Hajime come forth." Fukusaku demanded of the young monkey none to pleased, he had ever intention of speaking with Enma about the young things attitude.

The small ape walked forward a disgusted look on his face, this was why he hated dealing with this particular human. He always smelled like sex, and it grossed him out like nobodies business. "Yeah…this is from Jiji." Hajime grunted while holding out the folded envelope toward the large human.

Jiraiya sighed, before taking the letter and rubbing the sleep from his eyes sometimes he hated the fact that he had such a short time to get information. Most of his informants worked into the early hours and then they had to be sweet talked or paid before they even started to on the circle of questions that often followed. Usually it meant he slept from noon until midnight then the process started all over again, it wasn't that he was happy being a night owl it was actually the opposite, opening up the letter he felt his heart drop.

Whipping out his own letter he handed them to Gamashiro a messenger toad that he worked with on a regular basis, "Take this to Miharu and Sensei." The gray headed toad blinked before nodded, before taking off in a flash.

"Raiya! Child what's going on?" Shima asked a concerned expression on her face.

"Minato's girl, Naruto….she was attacked at the academy she's in a coma." Jiraiya had a grim expression on his face. The girl knew him relatively well and she was about the only female beside his sexual partner and ex-teammate that he bothered to tone down his perversion about.

Gamabunta stared at the man before him, he looked as if his heart had been ripped out again and he wondered briefly how many more times Jiraiya could handle the heart ache of being alone. "I'll send you back then, I suppose you'll be head back now ?"

Jiraiya nodded, "I just need to gather my things. Apparently Sensei is going to try to get Tsunade back in the village as well…but we all know how that's going to work out."

Gamabunta snorted his amusement, before nodding "I'll send you back then, good lucky Jiraiya." And with that the white haired sage was gone, leaving several worried toads. Shima in all her kindness could only worry she new that there were very few that Jiraiya considered to be important to him at this point in his life.

Jiraiya tried not to swallow his tongue he felt an emptiness in his heart at the thought that his goddaughter was so damaged that she was in a hospital. Normally something like this just didn't happen but every once in a while it did and it always made him worry that one day when he came home she wouldn't be waking up and she wouldn't open those big blue eyes of hers.

Huffing in annoyance, he gathered his things before apologizing to the matron of the hotel and began the long run back home. He was roughly eight or nine hours from Konoha meaning he would be getting there late at night and he could only hope that nothing more would happen to the girl while he was away. Sighing in frustration, Jiraiya started off, in a few hours he would call on one of the toads to carry him part of the way but until then he would get there on his own steam.

O

Kakashi sighed, he'd been running the whole night but he was going to have to sleep soon and he had no problems with that but he would admit that he was still none too pleased with his Hokage. Though it had pleased him to see that Naruto had so many students from her own grade worried over her, that and he thought that most of the youngsters were cute. When he'd gone to say good bye he'd been surprised to see the young Hyuuga boy, simply sitting with her with a small frown on his face.

After asking the boy a question about why he was there, Kakashi was surprised when the boy replied that he was curious about her red chakra pool. Kakashi had nearly had a heart attack at the response but the rest of the answer was the most amazing…the extra pool of chakra that had once been red had been refilled by Naruto's natural mixture of blue and green giving it an odd turquoise color.

This had set of a chain of events no one had really expected….Naruto now how a secondary pool of chakra that was nearly three times as potent as her normal pool of chakra but neither were getting any larger. It had left several of the medical heads baffled, and it quickly overwhelmed the boy considering they began to ask more questions than the little Hyuuga boy could answer. Kakashi had huffed before sweeping the boy out of the room, and walked him home, he'd learned if there was one thing that could be said about the white eyed clan the of Hyuuga was that they happened to be overly polite and this was no exception.

Either way he'd left the young boy at the edges of his compound, but he'd honestly thought he was near the Uchiha clan with the evil eye that was sent his way when he'd turned to leave. Thankfully no one had said a thing about the fact that Kakashi was walking the young Hyuuga boy home, though he did here some odd comments about pedophilia…sometimes he was really grateful he was the last of the "white" chakra clan. Raising Naruto here was bad enough the thought of raising his own offspring sent a cringe down his spine, there was a way to ensure he line was passed on…but that was for a later date.

God he really hated camping more importantly he hated having to travel so far to complete his mission this was worse than some of the missions he's been forced to complete in Snow country several years before. Water Country was not some were he wanted to be right now, not only that but the particular place he was heading to happened to be a small snowy area. He hated snow to…

About the only good thing that had occurred from this ordeal happened to be meeting Naruto's very handsome and cute teacher. He had every intention of getting to know the dolphin when he returned, at least once Naruto woke up. That was something he refused to give up on, Naruto was going to wake up damn it he refused to believe that she would spend the rest of her life sleeping. She was too stubborn for that, and he knew some of the things she wanted to do in her life and he couldn't say that they were bad goals. Everyone needed something to live for Naru had just found what she needed from life a little sooner than everyone else.

Shaking the less than helpful thoughts from his mind he studied the area in front of him, hours seemed to have passed and the sun had crossed from early morning to afternoon. It was something he was used to, the long runs and lack of sleep. If he really wanted to have any type of life outside of being a shinobi then things were going to have to slow down, it was why he'd gotten out of Anbu in the first place. He couldn't tell if the Hokage was alright with his retirement from black ops or if he was annoyed at losing one of his best trackers and assassins.

Trees seemed to pass by like blurs as did the hours, this was about the only thing he could say that he appreciated about being a ninja. His mind would always go quiet when he was on a mission he could stop thinking about everything that had gone wrong in his life and all things or people he'd lost. He could barely think about a time that he was happy, at the edges of his memory he could hear his mothers laughter or the scent of his father when he returned from working with his tracking team. The where found bitter memories, he wouldn't give them up but that brought a pang to his heart when he thought back about what had happened to his father.

Huffing lightly he looked over the area before him, it was a port town it was nestled into a small cove on the coast of Konoha. There were several port towns, and it was very rare that a ninja needed to use a port. But sometimes stealth or certain limitations on the ninja's part required the use of a boat, or even the inconspicuousness that could come with pretending to be a civilian.

In all honesty it was about the only way Kakashi was going to be able to get into Mizu no Kuni at this point, the civil war over blood lines and the assassination attempts on the third Mizukage had made the ninja of Kirigakure paranoid and mean. It had also run off several members of its sword group and he had no idea how many Black Opps had been forced from their homes when Yagura gave the word for the execution of those who had once protected him. He was relatively sure nearly forty ninja of various blood lines had joined the Leaf village, being a ninja was all that they knew how to do. Needless to say the paper work wouldn't be settled for a while, but many of them came as families and once a second generation of a certain clan was started with Konoha they would have the option of becoming a clan, with a voting seat on council and clan privileges.

Kakashi new that there was more to it than that simplistic outlook, but he also knew that it gave hope to the ninjas' in question…like the woman that Genma was with, she and others like her needed that hope to be able to forgo, and forget their roots in Mizu no Kuni. Kakashi shuddered at the thought, they didn't have many bloodlines in Konoha…many of them had been killed out in the war…both he and Iruka were examples of dwindling family lines. They had once held Clan seats…now they would be things of the past.

Kakashi sighed, before stopping outside the port …he really needed to get his mind off of such morbid thoughts. Glancing up at his head, he sighed before pulling off his Hitae-ite, his sharingan swirled to life before he hunted for a ratty eye patch, it was of hospital quality and white with two stretchy loops that would reach around his head once he put it on. Sniffing the air lightly, he back tracked until finding the water source. a small pond that from the looks of it was used for a farms reserve at one point in time, settling beside the pond he pulled out the temporary hair dye.

It was a light brown, and would work best with his pale coloring…he didn't need anyone to be able to point out the Copy Nin Kakashi. Working the substance through his hair he could only cringe at the scent it was disgusting, he hated the smell of chemicals it made him sick a lot of times after using the stuff. Forty minutes passed before he began to rinse the chemicals, he could only sigh before pulling out his mirror it sometimes made him wonder about the things that a ninja needed to keep sealed. Once he was positive there wasn't a sign of silver, he huffed before beginning to rub his hair dry there wasn't any point in him putting hair-gel in his hair. It was long running down to his chin in the front and down his neck, it was kept scruffy mainly because he didn't keep regular hair cuts on his list of things to do.

Stripping down he quickly changed into a more civilian looking outfit, it was similar to a laborers, A work t-shirt with a ragged hoody, and worn out jeans they were tight, uncomfortably constrictive in comparison with his Jonin gear. Staring at himself in the reflection of the water he nodded, pulling out his faux identification information out of a simple seal that had been inked into his skin. If he wasn't using chakra then none of his seals were visible, the fact that he could seal things like his Jonin suit and other ninja paraphernalia away into his arm was something no one ever picked up on.

Forcing himself to focus on the task at hand, he easily handed his information to one of the guards of the port before entering. Studying the town he could see that it was a well off, the streets were clean and because the town was small so there wasn't much room for rift raft to come in a make a nest in the small sea side town.

He could only look over the entrances there were several small fishing vessels then two large commercial boats that would head out to sea toward Mizu…There didn't seem to be any passenger boats but he could really be surprised, this was a smaller town. And he had picked it for that reason, the trawlers were coming in for the day and he was relatively sure they would be willing to allow him to get off for free labor. Several of the trawlers would be out for weeks and float in the oceans, others would dock in certain ports before going out another day.

As he scavenged the boats, it didn't take long for him to find one of the boatswains willing to allow him passage for labor. This was just what he needed….he could use the extra funds to get home quicker once Aoi was dead. For the rest of the day he would wonder the port, but that night he would have to sleep until then he really wanted to find some food.

O

It was roughly fifteen minutes till the bell rang and the children of Konoha Academy raced from their place of learning. Each one had a different place to return to, some went home some had things that they needed to learn as a member of a ninja clan certain duties had to be looked after for Yakumo it was learning Genjutsu, for someone like Sasuke it was learning about his Sharingan and Katon jutsu.

Yakumo sighed, looking over the room she'd been one of the first to volunteer to sit with Naruto then again no one had argued the point. She felt it was a little silly to be sitting by her unconscious friend but Naruto's guardian had been so concerned that he'd asked all of them to sit with her. They had been surprised but agreed, there had only been four of them in the hospital room at the time. But the others had agreed, thought they had all wondered over the fact that once it was brought up to the other at school everyone had agreed, even Shikamaru being the lazy guy that he was agreed to stay with Naruto.

Yakumo grinned, it had been an interesting day to say the least. She'd arrived at roughly the same time school started, needless to say it hadn't taken the young heiress anytime at all to become bored as an eight year old could be . So she'd taken out her amusement on several of the Anbu members who'd been watching over Naruto's room. She knew that she shoulder but she was bored…so what else could she do?

Needless to say once the there was a new rotation of Anbu Members that stepped onto the field she'd had a hayday teasing one of them with everything she could think of, from pranks to sexy nurses, the latter had the most interesting effect. Yakumo wasn't positive but at one point she was positive the newest Anbu member to come on Naru watch had a nose bleed, even if she wasn't quite sure what had caused it.

This was the most fun she'd had in ages though she'd had to remember to do nothing that couldn't be undone, that was one thing that had been drilled into her head since her sealing with Master Jiraiya and Hokage-sama several months before. She was very good at her genjutsu so much so that she'd managed to make several people think what was happening to them was real. Her father had warned her that as her abilities grew she would be able to make what happened in her illusions become real.

Yakumo pouted as she looked over Naruto's sleeping form, it was odd she noticed that Naruto seemed to twitch while sleeping and when she'd asked one of the nurses about it she'd gotten a strange look from one of the nurses. It hadn't taken long at all for a doctor to return to the room to check several things, the fact that one of the Anbu members one with the mask of a Washi or eagle deemed fit to monitor what the doctor was doing. (She thought that was a little odd considering none of the masked members seemed to know much about the medical things.)

"Yakumo…what are you doing?" A young male voice finally asked from the door, a curious look on his face.

"Oh…Choji." Yakumo smiled softly, this was one of the only good things that had occurred from the attack she now had several friends. While she was one of the clan heirs like several others in her class, she'd never gotten to interact with them until this year because of always being too sick to attend school, now she had gotten the chance to get to know them.

"So what are you doing?" The large boy asked a curious expression on his face.

Yakumo blushed lightly very few knew about her mischievous streak her father knew about it considering he and her mother were more often than not her targets. "Well…I was playing a prank.." She muttered quietly.

Choji laughed softly, "So you like pranks? Kiba's always playing pranks on Iruka-sensei…and ever other teacher we get. He likes to play them on Hana, too." Choji had taken a liking Yakumo, and the girl returned the affection. Both of them were really to kind to be ninja but the persevered they both had dreams that only being a ninja could help them complete.

A slow happy grin spread across her lips, "Yeah…I really do like pranks…maybe not like Kiba.." Yakumo made an amused expression., "I play them on my parents all the time…Papa told me I can't play them on anyone else because they can be a little dangerous."

Choji frowned, before a alight of understanding came across his face "Because it's Genjutsu right?"

Yakumo nodded in agreement, "Yeap! Papa said if I work at it a lot and expand my chakra I can make it all become real..so what brings you hear anyway Choji? Don't you normally hang out with Dreamy?"

Loud laughter could be heard from the room, Choji knew that she and Tenten had come up with a nick name for Shikamaru but that wasn't what he was expecting. "Normally I do, but he had to help his dad with the deer so he wasn't at school today. He gets really annoyed when people interrupt them…but I think that's because when people show up it makes the deer harder to handle. So I thought I would spend the rest of the time with you, that and I brought you what we went over today…Iruka sensei said Kotetsu or Izumo would be here later to take over for us."

She nodded, before sighing…Eventually the conversation picked up where it started before, most of it was about food mainly because Yakumo was curious about the types of things Choji's family ate. Choji was also curious about where Yakumo lived, most clans lived in a compound about the only person he knew that didn't was Shikamaru…thought he was a little curious, he didn't think Shikamaru was really working with his dad.

"Alright you to, I need you guys to leave." It was a young woman with a small smile on her face, she was one of the nurses that had continually checked up on Naruto, honestly it was a bit unnerving.

Both students blinked in surprise before actually looking out the window, it was getting dark they each needed to go home. "I'll see you in class Yakumo." Choji grinned, "Who's staying tomorrow anyway?"

"Tenten…Lee demanded to be able to stay on the third day though." Yakumo giggled, she thought the dark haired boy was cute and funny but she would never admit that to anyone else!

"Really? I volunteered Shika for a day, I just have to tell him that," Choji grinned lightly at Yakumo's startled then amused face. It was something he liked about her, almost all the people who's gotten involved with Naruto, almost all of them were different he wasn't sure what it was but they were different.

"Ano….I'm sorry to interrupt the two of you, but you really should get home." A voice from the door way spoke up, a look of amusement could be seen on a clean spoken face. The young man was of an average height and not in the least bit intimidating; he had relatively short hair with longish bangs the fell across one of his eyes keeping it from view. He was also had the metal plate of his Hitai-ate inserted into his bandana and was wearing that instead of a regular headband.

The two youngsters scurried away laughing in amusement, leaving the room empty besides the young chunin. He'd been surprised at the request but it was easily something within his realm so there was little reason to say no. Settling in the chair that was still warm from the Kurama heir, he studied the small girl on the bed. He and his partner Kotetsu were known for always being stuck on guard duty not that Kotetsu would ever complain.

More often than not, they were also called on to try to catch Naruto when she pulled one of her insane pranks….not that either of them where really efficient for that particular duty. Nine times out of ten the two of them would die laughing at whatever it was that she'd done. One such a time she'd dumped a bucket of water resistant paint on a particular merchant that had taken to over charging the children of Konoha, needless to say the man was an interesting shade of gray for several weeks.

It was odd for him, he saw Naruto on a regular basis she was one of the few people of Konoha that would stop by to talk to Kotetsu and himself. So it wasn't hard to believe that the two young adults had a certain affection for the young girl who made guard duty less boring than it had to be. She was such a vibrant person, to see her so still made him ache…he also knew that he was going to be one of many people that would be on the Tower grounds when the Uchiha who had done this was sealed. They had decided to make it public and he had to cringe at the humiliation this would put the Uchiha clan through, honestly he hoped that the older more sensible members of the clan would realize that there member was in the wrong. But the rumbling on the street were already angry that the Hokage was protecting the "demon" brat again. Shaking his head at the foolishness of the civilian population, Izumo continued to study the room before settling in for the night. For the foreseeable future, both he and Kotetsu would be on night duty to watch over Naruto and to be perfectly honest he would much prefer working inside the Air conditioned room of the hospital in comparison to dusty, and some times rough merchants that accompanied gate duty.

O

Asuma groaned once the rolled in to the town Minoa, they had been in the large trading town for several hours and it seemed that they were on the right trial. Someone of a similar description with a pet pig had been through and they hadn't been seen or heard of leaving this particular village, not only that but most of the Casino owners seemed more than a little happy. This had lead both Asuma and Genma to believe that Tsunade was in the village but both of them were more than worried about getting on her bad side, neither of them really wanted to look like Master Jiraiya after spying on the hot springs.

"Do you want to look for her, or do you want to sleep on it?" Genma asked, eyeing his partner with a lazy confidence that tended to get the older man in trouble. Both men shared a glance before they both sighed, splitting up Genma headed toward the casino's while Asuma headed for the bar.

Genma almost cried, this was the forth casino he'd walked into and so far there was nothing. But then again Minoa was a big town, there were close to forty casino's in a city of this size, thought he supposed he'd gotten the short end of the straw every single one of the casinos had a bar that he had to go through as well. The biggest issue was being harassed by the owners to sit down and play, generally when he just smiled and oh so polite stated he was searching for someone they generally turned away and didn't bother him.

"Genma?"

Genma blinked before turning around, it was a feminine voice and that surprised him then again he must be doomed for something horrible when he got home. Looking over the woman, he could only sigh it was Shizune she had followed Tsunade when she'd left the village a year before the Kyuubi attack.

"It's been a while Shizune…" Genma studied her, she really hadn't changed not much anyway. Her hair was still in that simple short cut that fell around her the tops of her shoulders, while those big black eyes seemed just as innocent and frightened as they had when they had gone on a mission together after the war.

"What are you doing here?" Shizune had to ask returning the curious glance. Genma was certainly taller than the last time she'd seen him, in fact she'd been taller than him…but that had been close to nine almost ten years ago now.

Genma rolled his eyes, "It should be pretty obvious I'm the idiot that got stuck trying to bring Tsunade-sama back to Konoha." He shuddered, both he and Asuma had a copy of the letter that the Third had sent and neither of them wanted to know what was in it. Not only that but they had to hand it to the Kage level kunoichi.

Shizune frowned, "You know she'll never agree!"

"You don't think I know that? I don't really have a choice in the matter! So please put me out of my misery Shizune, were can I find her to at least give her this note." Genma related, he knew that the sannin, all three of them were stubborn asses.

Shizune stared up into light brown eyes, they were weary and held just a smidgen of sadness as if he would rather be anywhere than in Minoa at this point in his life. Nodding sadly, she turned and simply walked toward the gaming room, this was one of the larger parlors in the city.

The room itself was large holding more games than Genma wanted to count and just as many people who were foolish enough to waste their money. He pointedly ignored the fact that the Lady Tsunade was one of many who spent their time addicted to alcohol, and emptying there pockets to people like those who owned Casino's. Looking around light eyes found the woman he was searching for he could only sigh before walking forward.

Gold eyes glared at him was he approached, damn he knew this wasn't going to end well. "Tsunade-sama."

"Jonin…what do you want?" Tsunade asked, coldly glaring over the man. He didn't seem to be any happier about this meeting than she was.

"I was ordered by the Hokage to give you this letter, as such I would appreciate it if you don't kill me. I have very little to do with what is actually in that little letter." Genma replied his humor as dry as his current mood.

Tsunade looked over the younger man before barking in laughter, the boy had guts or he was so tired he wasn't thinking straight. Taking the letter from the jonin she ripped the top away, before pulling the letter out. Before unfolding the letter she was asked to place a bet, looking at the odds she agreed going all in. Just as the letter was completely unfolded she blinked, before her attention was pulled back toward her bet.

Something akin to a scowl covered her face when it listed that she'd won, considering she'd bet roughly 838,899.93 ryo, because of the odds it multiplied by 100 but it was more than enough to cover most of her expensives and even pay back most of her debt….Snarling at the letter her eyes went wide when she read what was written , "That bastard!"

Shizune blinked in surprise, "What's in the letter, Tsunade-sama?"

"Did you know about this!" Tsunade snarled, looking at the young jonin.

"I asked not to be killed for a reason." Genma retorted, "But yes, we were informed of what was in the letter. I wasn't too hot for this mission, no one was." His eyes were cold, very few in Konoha would admit it but Tsunade-sama wasn't the only one who'd lost loved ones but she was the only one that was allowed to act in such a disgraceful way. Many of the ninja in the corps looked at her with a certain type of distain, and some contempt. They would all admit that she was an amazing kunoichi…but that couldn't take pride that she was from Konoha, at least Jiraiya-sama returned and helped the village by being a spy.

Tsunade scowled, she really had no choice but to return, if Sarutobi had completely frozen her assets, then no one in Fire Nation or any other nation would accept her credit. "Fine. I'll come back. Shizune. Take my winnings and pay off as many creditors as possible. I'm assuming more than one of you came on this mission." Her golden eyes seemed to glare, as if demanding that he magically produce his partner.

Genma nodded, "Will leaving in the morning suit you? I'll be returning with you, Asuma will be going with the Shizune."

Shizune epped, "Asuma Sarutobi!" She looked slightly unsettled and more than a little panicked at the thought in fact a large blush seemed to pass over her cheeks. Genma studied the smaller woman with a slightly amused smile, Tsunade tried not to roll her eyes, Shizune had a crush on the Sarutobi boy when they had left the village nearly nine years before.

Tsunade finally nodded, before taking the winnings and leaving, turning back briefly she seemed to stare into his soul "I expect to see you at the south gate in the morning." With that she resumed her trek toward the door.

Genma huffed in frustration before leaving he would meet Asuma when he returned to their room, that was something that they had done before going on the wild goose chase that so far was turning out to be not so wild. This wouldn't be so bad…it really depended on how fast Tsunade was going to want to get back to Konoha to bitch at the Hokage.

O

Miharu Hasegawa sighed, as she wondered into her apartment she was more than dead tired she'd been drafted for an B rank turned S Rank seduction and assassination mission…. needless to say her target was dead and she'd taken a great pleasure in making sure the man in question would never put his hands on a child again. It was roughly ten at night and she wanted nothing more than a long hot bath, biting her thumb roughly she pressed the bloody digit against her door frame before releasing a small amount of chakra into the seal.

Her door swung open with practiced ease, this was possibly the best thing that her lover had ever taught her. Having enough information to be able to keep her place safe meant more to her than he could know. But then again it was very likely Jiraiya had done it to be certain that nothing could get to her behind these walls, she made things for certain members of the shinobi council more difficult than they had once been. She was the spy within Anbu, she kept things in order. She was silent and deadly sand she always recognized those they weren't really one of Sarutobi nins.

Walking forward, she pulled the steel hair pins from her short shoulder length hair, really there was no need for hair pins other than the things kept her bangs from her face. The particular pair she was wearing happened to be from Jiraiya, no-one of the village new this and she liked it that way, it kept things simple. Laying the hair pieces on her kitchen counter, she blinked studying the note on the table. The only thing that could get into her apartment besides herself and Jiraiya happened to be a summons and not even they could summon another person into her apartment, nothing could override the blood seal keeping those who weren't keyed into her apartment out.

Lifting the letter to her face, she could honestly say that she was surprised. It wasn't uncommon for Jiraiya to send a toad ahead to tell her that he was coming. The odd thing was that he was coming home so soon, not that she really minded but she did have to wonder what could have occurred while she was away? Jiraiya usually came in spring and fall, generally staying in Konoha for a month before taking off for another five or six months, it was just something she and anyone in Konoha was accustomed to.

She could only shrug her shoulders before removing her kunai pouch and medical supplies, walking toward the back of the apartment she could only grin as she began to strip down to nothing. Shivering at the cool air, she could only sigh as steam began to rise in the large bath tub that happened to be her favorite purchase. Slipping into it, Miharu huffed it wasn't quiet as good as going to a hot spring but it was damn close!

Dunking down into the water once she'd resurfaced, long slender fingers wrapped around a bottle, before the small popping sound of the shampoo could be heard as it slipped into her hands. Miharu could only sigh in relief as she began to massage the soapy goodness into her hair. That was the worse part about being in assassination, if they started fighting back they tended to get blood everywhere, normally she killed via poison it was her favorite way to get rid of a victim. She really did hate getting blood in her hair, it always tended to get sticky and gross afterwards.

She soaked for nearly an hour and continued to repeated scrub her hair and skin, the man she'd been sent to kill had disgusted her. But what worried her was the fact that he'd seemed to know that was coming, it was one of the reasons she'd come back home with another wound that would eventually turn into a scar. She was relatively certain that Danzo was now aware that she kept tabs on all his silly little root members, needless to say even if she died only Jiraiya could get to the goods so to speak so either way the old fart was doomed.

Shaking the thoughts from her mind, she settled in her room finding one of Jiraiya's civilian shirts, she could only grin when she got a good whiff of his scent still lingering on the clothing. Pulling the shirt over her head, she crawled into bed she was more than a little tired.

Nearly two hours passed before Jiraiya let himself into her apartment without a bit of sound being made. He had things he needed to do, but they could wait until the morning. Damn it he was too old to be staying up for more than a day at a time, grumbling to himself, he stripped down to nothing before crawling into the western style bed beside Miharu. She was out like a light, not even being in an unconscious state stopped her from rolling over and curling into his body. The light movement awakened her, it was something that all ninja eventually learned withe time, small movements like that and awareness could mean the difference between life and death.

"Raiya?" Sleepy violet eyes were blurry with fatigue and couldn't seem to focus on his face, her thick silver hair seemed to gleam in the low light as it splayed out behind her back and shoulders.

Jiraiya simply looked down at the woman snug against his side, she looked more worn out than normal and he had to wonder at it. "Yeah, it's me Haru." He could only chuckle when she gave a content little sigh before burying her face further into his neck. He could tell by the little noise in the back of her throat that she had more questions but for now it was time for sleep. "Sleep Miharu, we'll talk about it in the morning." There were no questions in his voice, just a gentle command, though he was positive she was dozing off before it even left his lips. It didn't take him long to follow her into a dreamless sleep, tomorrow morning he had a sensei to grill and a little girl to look in after.

Woot conversion, for anyone wondering.

10 yen is one Ryo

10 yen in the American dollar is roughly .12 cents.

Anyone want to try to take a guess at the amount?


	5. Chain Reaction Day Two

I don't own Naruto….But I did have fun turning him into a girl!

Yes, I know the sections are a bit short but they make a nice sized chapter altogether! Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter.

-Miharu Hasegawa is my own fun creation as such I hope yall don't mind or hate the poor chick.

Chapter 5

Genma huffed, in frustration as he ran Tsunade had been in a bitching mood since they had met at the gates that morning and he wanted nothing more than to suffocate her. Or for her to knock herself out with her own tits, sometimes he wondered about Tsunade. He had always been curious about the Sanin how they had managed to become so emotionally weak in comparison to the rest of Konoha, he could say he didn't understand the consequences of being a ninja it had cost him heavily in his life time.

Rumors and questions always floated around the great three, once upon a time Tsunade and Orochimaru were considered to be the strongest members of the trio. Now it seemed that Jiraiya-sama had risen up from the depths and become one of the best, he had once been the irresponsible flirt now he seemed to be a relatively responsible ninja that loved a little girl along with the one and only Kakashi.

"Would you please shut up?" Genma finally spoke up. _I can't even hear myself think over her bitching!_ He thought silently, before a sigh escaped his lips at the volatile look sent his way. He understood that she didn't want to return to Konoha because she blamed the place for taking everything from her but damn, bitching about it didn't help anyone. He wanted to be back home with his girlfriend and snuggle up against her warm small body, but no he got stuck with the bitchy old woman.

Tsunade nearly snarled at the younger man before she actually looked closely at the man he was obviously exhausted and wasn't all too keen to be on this particular mission. And that was something she had to wonder about, what had changed so much that Konoha wouldn't want a Senju in the village. "What's changed about Konoha?" She finally asked after much deliberation, she almost wanted to ask why he and her Sensei's son had been less than pleased to find her.

Genma studied her, for once she'd stopped complaining and he had to wonder why she would care it had nothing to do with her. Even if Tsunade stayed in the village there was a number of people that wanted nothing to do with the woman. "We've learned not to rely on heros." The tone was sullen as if he was remembering a particularly bad dream, " We've learned that the only way to protect Konoha , to protect what we love….is to fight for it ourselves, not even Minato could protect what was most important to himself." The statement was cryptic but anyone in the village with a brain would have been able to make the connection, he forcibly cut himself off. He could feel anger course through him, frustration seemed to well up inside his heart. He had to wonder how many people might have lived if Tsunade and her talents had been in the village, there were just so many thoughts and worries inside him mind.

How many people would have been living? It was a question that could never be answered, it was something many nin's of Konoha tried not to think about. Their medical techniques had never been amazing, once upon a time Tsunade had begun teaching them and the medic-corps flourished. One by one her students died after Tsunade ran from Konoha with all the pain rising up in her heart, and Konoha was left with morons who were no were near as talented as they should have been. No one in good conscious would blame the hot headed Senju princess for leaving, but many wondered what life would have been like if the older kunoichi had returned.

The older woman couldn't help but to notice the dip in voice, the inflection as if thinking about the aftereffects of the war followed by the Kyuubi had killed some part of him. He was so young, almost all Nin's were young they rarely managed to make it past 40 and those that did generally retired. Studying the boy, Tsunade could only frown something besides what was happening in Konoha was eating at him and she had to wonder at it. She could easily tell that he was too young to have gone to war and come back completely unaffected, "What else is eating you kid?"

"Nothing I'm willing to talk about outside the village." Genma scoffed at himself, it had been stupid of himself and Asuma to talk about such things outside of the village. Both of them knew it, he would never ever put his family in such danger again. Not only that but he had to think over the fact that both of those two nin's of unknown origin had known information that none should know. "In fact we have a mole inside the village, Asuma and I were only given this assignment a short time ago."

The older blonde frowned, that could spell disaster for Konoha it could mean the destruction of Konoha something her grandfather had worked so hard for. Something her Uncle and teacher had continued, it made her heart ache thinking of them. She loved them and cursed them all the same. Closing her eyes she left the silence fall cold between her current traveling companion, before they both began to speed up each of them needed the time to think to themselves about the difficulties that were fast beginning to approach.

O o O o O o O

"It's been awhile, Sensei." Jiraiya smirked, slightly at seeing his teacher as well as the four clan heads helping him jump in utter surprise at his voice. He could easily see that they had worked through a lot of information and it made him wonder exactly what had happened to put the lot of them into such a tizzy. He knew from walking among the civilians that they were upset about some ruling involving his god-daughter and the Kurama heir. The fact that they thought the boy didn't deserve any punishment for what had happened showed that the civilians had utterly lost their minds.

"Jiraiya, why can't you ever use a door?" Sarutobi asked, before moving from his stooped position to sit in one of the chairs that surrounded the table that was loaded down with books. He'd known his student had arrived that morning at around 2 am because of the guards and ward signature that recorded everyone who entered Konoha, he'd also been thankful when the younger man had gone somewhere to sleep instead of waking him from a relatively peaceful sleep.

"That would make things far too easy, now what exactly has happened?" Jiraiya wasn't usually forceful and was in fact damn good at being as subtle as needed. It was why he was such a good spy in comparison to others, he had also trained a number of men and women to take his place should that time every come that he needed to retire.

"I suppose you didn't read the whole letter?" Hiruzen sighed, looking over the younger man. Jiraiya in a way was exactly like the six year old that looked up at him used to being ignored and used to having to try his hardest to get the smallest amount of attention. At the same time, the man before him had grown so much in the same way, Jiraiya no longer tried to get the approval that would come from his sensei or even the people of Konoha. Instead the man did what he felt was right and often proved he had a bigger moral code than many knew.

"Oh no, I read it but I want the details old man," Jiraiya rarely felt angry but for once it was riding up inside him with a type of rage he'd never felt before. The white haired man had been angry at Orochimaru for turning on them, he'd been angry when Minato had been killed, and the middle aged nin had been furious when he'd been denied the right to take his god-daughter and Kakashi away from the village.

The Hokage could only sigh, "Well it all started about a month before this incident happened.." The older man replied, before going on to talk about the unfair grading. The fact that he'd had the young girl retested before having the Academy gone over with a fine tooth comb. How Naruto had moved in with Kakashi and actually started making friends, before running into the Uchiha boy who'd tried to hurt the girls because he felt that he was above the laws. By the time the hokage was done explaining things Jiraiya was literally putting of enough chakra to knock the building down.

"Good god, old man what had you been doing while I was away?" Jiraiya knew he shouldn't blame his former teacher, but wasn't his job to be on top of things? The white haired ninja simply sat before rubbing his hands over his face he was so tired and exhausted, he wanted nothing more than to sit down and relax.

"Yes, well battling with Danzo and the Clan Heads have been eating up my time. I'm tired of playing games Jiraiya, I've had enough of this. There was another reason I called you back." Sarutobi had a bit of a twinkle in his eye that made all sane ninja nervous, the elderly man was plotting and that was never good for whoever it was directed at. When Jiraiya simply raised an eyebrow, Hiruzen continue, "I want you to take the Hokage's hat."

Jiraiya simply had to pause before turning a disbelieving look at the old man, he was mildly amused and appealed. Something in him cringed at the idea of taking that hat knowing that it had been Minato's dream and it had killed him, Orochimaru had wanted that hat and it had driven him insane. What did he know of power of politics? Certainly he'd been forced to report to the capital several times during his life as a ninja, but that didn't mean he'd be the best choice. "Have you lost your mind old man?"

"I think that you are the best person for the job Jiraiya, as much as you play at being a pervert and slacking off. I more than anyone know that you work hard and are quiet involved in a steady relationship." Hiruzen could see that this didn't sit well with his former student and he could understand the distaste for the job. When his own Sensei had passed the torch to him it had been in the middle of war, and it had ultimately killed a part of Sarutobi that he hadn't known he still had.

"I'll think about it old man, I'll need to talk to my partner's first." Jiraiya stopped there, he would need to talk to the spies he had trained, he would need to talk to Miharu and he would have to talk to both Tsunade and Kakashi as the three of them were all involved with one little girl. When his teacher simply nodded his head toward him, Jiraiya could only huff before disappearing out into Konoha. He needed time to think and was positive that the tower would just because for distraction.

O o O o O o O

Tenten sighed, two days ago Naruto had been put in the hospital and Konoha as a whole was rift with rumors. Some were that Naruto had done this on purpose, but those were being shot down by a majority of the senor nin's specifically clan Ninja and others who had apparently watched over her friend since she was a child. This of course caused the young female to have a whole host of questions, why had Naruto who had been forced to live at a ratty orphanage in eastside need to have Anbu guards? For another matter, why did Naruto know Hatake Kakashi or the Sarutobi clan so well? Simply in case of demographics, she shouldn't have run into either one of them.

Though there had been a slight relief today while sitting with Naruto, most of the doctors and nurses that were working there didn't think anything about talking around the children. Which was actually a very bad thing considering the fact that if she was an enemy Tenten would have more information on most of the hospital that she should have. They talked about injured nin's that were in the hospital, high ranking officials and all sorts of things that made the young girl's insides squirm. Allowing civilians to take over the hospital had been an awful idea, and the young weapon mistress was surprised someone hadn't been assassinated already because all the gossip.

Though with all the gossip that was flying around Tenten was able to listen in on what one of the doctors were saying about Naruto, and it pissed the young girl off like nothing else. They wanted to do all sorts of test on Naruto because they didn't understand how her chakra could be so condensed, they didn't have permission from the Hokage but they didn't much seem to care. They also talked about how Naruto was a monster and they didn't understand why the Hokage and so many of the Medi-Nin's were trying to protect the girl, in fact sometime last night something had occurred and all civilian doctors had been ordered not to come into the room at all. Naruto had been taken out of their care and was now in the medi-nin's ward, the room was till rather large but it was cozier.

By the time lunch rolled around Tenten's eyes were wide with the amount of information she'd gotten from careless adults. The things that went on in this hospital couldn't be exactly legal in some cases and she knew that when she got home that afternoon she was going to have a long talk with her dad. Was it even safe for Naruto to be in a place like this?

"Ah, Tenten…" As her name was spoken the bun-haired girl looked up to find one of Naruto's classmates looking at her with a curious glance he also had two different stacks of school work. One was for her and the other was more than likely for Naruto, Tenten could say she felt sorry for her younger friend. Naruto was going to have to play catch up again after having to do the same the weeks that school was canceled.

"Shino right? Thanks for bringing my school work. Naruto's is over in this stack." The brown eyed girl informed the young Aburame boy, because Naruto had been moved they had to rearrange everything in her room. But in a way this was a good thing there was no telling how long it could take for Naruto to get better, though from the way the blonde acted she was going to hate being coped up in this "hell hole" as she would likely call it.

"Hai, It's nice to see you again." The younger boy bowed lightly before moving to sit across from the older girl. He didn't know much about Naruto but she had seemed like a nice girl and she'd managed to get Yakumo to open up which was something most of the clan heirs hadn't been able to do. Though the few times he'd heard the blonde girl speak the Aburame boy had been blown away at her language and her disregard for social norms. When he'd asked his father about her, Shibi had simply shook his head before telling his son that he needed to get to know the girl himself and form his own opinion.

Shino would be the first to admit that he was rather anti-social, and that he had a hard time expressing himself. Though the Aburame boy was eternally grateful that some people didn't mind his oddness, like Hinata or Kiba, neither of them had a problem with his insects. But for a similar reason he disliked Ino and Sakura because they always made him feel bad when they spoke about his insects and clan. The young boy knew that they didn't really mean any harm with what they said but it hurt nonetheless to be talked about in such a manner.

Tenten smile, "So what did you go over in class today? You know I never thought that I would miss classes, but the longer I was here the more I wanted to be in class." It had been painful to watch Naruto all day, but it was looking better the little blonde wasn't so pale and seemed to be getting a bit of color into her cheeks.

"Nothing much, we had a Genjutsu lecture as well as a very long history lecture. I like Umino-sensei, but he gets very dull with history you can tell he don't like teaching it though he is very thorough and makes it easy for us to learn. He much prefers speaking about Fuuinjutsu or Ninjutsu, he's one of the few demolition specialists that work in Konoha." Shino liked Umino-sensei, the man was kind and relatively informal and always insisted on being called Iruka.

"Oh, we've had him as a lecturer in the upper level classes before. It's almost always about Fuuinjutsu, they said he could be a master if someone was available to teach him. But the Yondaime died, and Jiraiya of the Sannin is never here long enough to teach him. Actually he supplies a lot of the seals and tags that we have at Da's shop." Tenten had never really met the man but knew that her father liked him well enough.

"I'm not surprised, Umino-sensei is more like a scholar than a fighter. I'm not sure how he came to be a ninja." Shino replied easily, it was refreshing to have a simple conversation with another person. Generally, he spoke with Hinata, Kiba, Shikamaru, Choji or Sasuke, none of them liked to speculate or have long discussions about anything and Choji and Sasuke were both still very awkward around him as if they weren't entirely sure what to make of him.

Tenten grinned, she had to agree with him on that and the young teacher was just a tad on the effeminate side. "Oh…I have a question for you and this isn't meant to be offensive or intrude on your clan policies or anything. But can you really talk to bugs?" It was something she had wondered about often, the Aburame clan rarely came into her Da's shop other than to replace Kunai and on occasion seals they group of them were disturbingly self-sufficient at least according to her father.

Shino blinked in surprise before a smile that was hidden by his high collar appeared on his lips. "Yes. But it's closer to telepathy than speaking to them, insects don't have a structured language like people do. It's closer to a movie, they don't have words or opinions."

"So every time you ask them a question you get a picture response?" Tenten had to admit that she was terribly curious about it. It sounded so interesting and when Shino nodded at her question, more ideas and questions began to pop into her mind. The young girl couldn't help but to ask, "Can you speak with other things in that way like humans or other animals?"

"I don't honestly know, I've never heard of anyone in the clan trying anything like that. Though I have heard rumors that we've been trying to cultivate a different species, I can't really say more or my family will get mad at me." That was one thing that all clans had, a rule of not speaking to in depth about the abilities of the clan. The first offense could get you kicked out of the clan and there was no higher form of shame than being removed from the clan register.

Tenten could only nod, "I was just wondering, but thanks for answering my questions I'll try not to pry." It gave both of them something to wonder on, Tenten found the idea of speaking to someone else inside their head to be fantastic but it was a lot like the Yamanaka clan. Yet at the same time it was nothing like the Yamanaka clan, the Yamanaka clan had a lot of draw backs that came with their ability to throw themselves into someone else's body, one of the biggest was if they didn't get out before an enemy was killed then they were killed to.

Shino nodded, "It's alright." A quiet relaxed air seemed to settle over the two of them but it didn't stop the two of them from speaking about other things like Konoha and who their favorite ninja happened to be. Shino would say his favorite happened to be someone from his clan, the man who had been the first to discover the Kikaichu and create the bound that made the was what made the Aburame clan what it was. Tenten on the other hand was extremely found of the Lady Tsunade and Shino couldn't fault her for it, there was a sad lack of well-trained Kunoichi in Konoha.

It was uncommon for different grades to mix so it hadn't been surprising when they realized they didn't know much about the other. Tenten had been surprised she discovered how many clan heirs were in the same class and could only ask about the security nightmares it must cause for Anbu, which caused the young Aburame boy to snicker in agreement and over the next several hours the two enjoyed getting to know one another and developed a healthy respect for the other.

O o O o O o O

Asuma sighed, this would be the eight house they had gone to in the land of fire and the youngest Sarutobi boy was actually truly amazed at the amount of money that Tsunade had been able to spend and that was saying something. The payout and put a nice dent in her creditors but Shizune wasn't out of money yet, and had informed him that her mentor had debts in Cloud and Wind country. But most of them were in here in Fire country and that if she got to pay most of them off, Shizune would be ever grateful.

But that was something that did concern the Sarutobi man, Shizune seemed to be going above and beyond to help Tsunade and while he understood the need to pay the woman back Shizune didn't seem to be living a life on her own and that was never healthy. Light brown eyes studied the woman in front of him, she was just as cute as she had been when they had gone to the academy. Those dark eyes seemed to have a relatively happy shine to them, while her hair was in the same style it had always been longer sides cut at an upward angle to a short back with shorter choppy bangs. She was still petite, thin and in a lot of ways not so different she'd grown into her figure wasn't as clumsy as she once was.

"Ano…Sarutobi-san?" Shizune was looking up at her male companion with concern, Asuma had bene quiet for most of the run but she could tell he was slightly horrified that all the money Tsunade had managed to make was going into paying off investors. The young medic couldn't help but agree with the expression because this was probably six or seven times the budget of Fire Country.

"Call me Asuma please, Sarutobi is my dad." The young jounin reminded, and had a hard time hiding the smile that ran across his face at the blush that settled on hers. The was another thing that surprised him, Shizune hadn't outgrown the formalities that she'd grown up with. Most of the nin's of Konoha got over that relatively quickly unless they were in polite society with the lords or Daimyo, there was just little point when most of their clients were common people that generally looked at them with disdain.

"Alright, but I was wondering why you simply didn't go back with Tsunade and Genma?" Shizune had to admit to being curious, he hadn't be required to go back though Genma had seemed positive that Asuma would stay with her throughout the whole thing.

"If anything happened to you, Tsunade would blame the two of us then Konoha. Neither of us really thought it was a good idea to take the chance, we both know you can take care of yourself. It's always wise to have backup and that's really what I am at the moment, though I do feel for Genma when he gets back home." Asuma replied easily, the last thing he needed was a female that was willing to take his head off. He could see that she was accepting of the answer if not entirely pleased with it.

Shizune had to sigh, they were right if anything did happen to her Tsunade would blame them and become extremely angry and would probably take it out on the two of them if for no other reason than she could. Her mentor no longer had respect for anyone except perhaps her teammates or her former teacher, because of this the older woman didn't care who she hurt and Shizune was often times forced to clean up after her.

"This is the next place right?" Asuma looked up at the place in question, it was rather shoddy and it concerned him that Tsunade would be taking money from people like these.

Shizune simply sighed before nodding, this was the one that she was dreading the others had been delighted to get their money back with all that interest that had to be paid back. This one on the other hand wouldn't mind just getting his hands on Tsunade as a sex toy, the man was a coward and just about worthless as far as being a king happy human could be. She hated it when her mentor went to men like this, it wasn't as if Shizune could retaliate the man was still a civilian even if he was slime.

"Hello, I was wondering if Miho was in?" Shizune started, if she could get away with it she would talk to the man's daughter. The daughter was just as bad as the father but she wouldn't try to group the young nin.

The young man looked up before shaking his head, "You'll have to talk to Kirahara, Miho took off about six months ago and ain't about to come back. Sorry, lady. The back door is open so go on in." The young man looked to be in his late teens and wanted nothing more than to run out the door but he was holding his own, he wasn't about to quit he needed the money working here provided, once he had enough he planned on making a run for it to get the heck out of this hell hole just like Miho.

Shizune cursed silently and in that instance was very grateful that Asuma had come along with her, the male beside her was big and brawny and Asuma wasn't afraid to take his anger out on a civilian that was acting out of line. Shivering to herself, Shizune did the only thing she could think of at the moment dragging Asuma to the side and ask for help. "I need your help for this one…"

Asuma raised an eyebrow at the smaller ninja, "What do you want me to do?" This could end badly or it could go extremely well. Thought he had to wonder as to why she was suddenly so happy that he was around, not that he minded.

"Kirahara is the lowest of the low, and possibly the worst type of scum I've meet in a long time. He's also a pervert, not like Jiraiya-sama, I think he's hateful toward woman. I was hoping you could be intimidating, I really don't want him to touch me." Shizune wasn't usually this candid with what she was thinking but Asuma wouldn't mind.

Asuma sighed as he looked at the smaller woman, before simply nodding he could play big bad relatively well. Most people men and women were intimidated by his size anyway, being tall and broad hadn't done him any favors. Instead he simply rubbed the back of his head before agreeing. The Sarutobi man just hoped this didn't get him into more trouble with his dad, they were slowly or so slowly beginning to mend the relationship that had been torn apart when he'd joined the Fire Guardians in the Capital.

Shizune smiled, very grateful that he was willing to help her in this endeavor; she was going to have to warn him that this would be happening quiet often until they were finished. The more Tsunade the harder it had been to find someone to fund her gambling, and if it was left up to Shizune her mentor would never be allowed within 5 miles of a gambling hall again.

When the two returned to the inside of the loan shark's office the boy that had been their gave the two of them a mildly amused look before nodding to the hallway on his left. Both nin's shared a look, before heading down the hallway eventually they came to an office were quite a lot of shouting went on before the door swung open and a woman stormed out cursing.

Looking in Asuma found himself weary of the man inside the office room, his hair was a white blonde that showed he had very odd genetics, and his skin was a dark tone for someone who spent a large amount in the sun. His eyes were a deep gray color that seemed to boar into a person's body, and from the way Shizune was stiffening up he was beginning to wonder if this was Kirahara at all.

"Ah, ah Tsunade's little apprentice. I never thought I would see you again, did that old hag finally kick the bucket?" The man asked, those dark eyes lighten with sick amusement at the thought of death. This business did a lot of things, sold women, sold men, assassinations, loaned money, it was a very lucrative business without the morals that was needed to run a ninja village.

"Tsunade-sama is fine. She finally managed to win back enough money to pay off some of her debts." Shizune replied, her tone cold while her eyes seemed to be looking over the place as if looking for a trap.

"Oh really, am I the first to get my money back?" Kirahara looked intrigued at the idea that Tsunade could actually hit the one time lucky moment.

"No, this is actually the eight lender I've seen today," Shizune replied in a very dismissive way, as if it wasn't that much of a big deal but in reality it was a very very big deal.

Kirahara snorted in amusement, "Then let's see a 500,000 ryo loan, at 34% interest per month. You've only had the loan for four months….well that's roughly 1,203,052 ryo…" What he didn't expect was a rolled scroll to be thrown onto his desk that created a definite heavy thump. Raising a brow, the older man channeled a small amount of Chakra into the sealed item and was pleased as could be when the contents were ejected. It was a small mound of Ryo that would need to be counted, "Were can I get into contact with you to end our dealings?"

"A messaging bird will work fine." Shizune replied primly before standing to leave what she didn't expect was Asuma's quick movement. The bigger man had a hold on both the slender man's wrists in one hand, while the other was wrapped around the man's throat not tightly enough to suffocate him, but enough to allow the smaller man to know that he meant business.

"Now, why would you do that? I recognized that face, as a mission nin you probably don't want me to say anything but hand Shizune the receipt and allow us to be on our way or I'll simply take your head in to the next merc station that we come across." Asuma hissed, he'd seen the man go for the senbon needle he kept hidden in his pocket. Unfortunately for the man, Asuma could see hidden weapons from a mile away because of that it was easy for the Sarutobi make to identify what the other man was going for.

"Very well." Kirahara muttered, trying to get loose it had been a long time since he'd been caught in such a hold or been forced up against his own walls because of carelessness. The man in front of him wouldn't regret killing him in the least and would simply walk out with the money to pay someone else who wouldn't think about double crossing him.

Once the big fellow dropped him, Kirahara couldn't help but to grumble those eerily light brown eyes were watching his every move as if waiting to attack. He was going to have to move his business, he'd been working in the same town for six years and one young hotshot Konoha bastard was going to make him move.

When Shizune got the receipt and they were leaving Asuma simply watched with weary eyes until they were both out of the building. Shizune on the other hand was practically hoping with delight she'd never seen the older man loose his cool in that way and it delighted her. Shizune couldn't help but that the taller man repeatedly which simply got an amused grin in return, this was going to be so much easy with someone like Asuma around.

O o O o O o O

Jiraiya sighed, he'd spent time wondering around Konoha trying to wrap his head around the fact that he the "dobe" of his team was being asked to be the Hokage. He had expected Tsunade to be the next in line, then again at least he was sober most of the time in comparison, and he wouldn't run the risk of gambling away Konoha's cash flow. Returning to the apartment, Jiraiya found himself sitting on the couch wondering what the devil he was going to do. The white haired ninja didn't want to put up with the Head Clan council, or the Civilian Council, or the three advisors to the Hokage. Then again Konoha by itself needed to be restructured anyway, the defense it might had had was slowly corroding away because the land was being clear cut far too close to the cities defenses.

"Raiya, what are you doing? You look silly just sitting there." A warm sultry feminine voice spoke softly in his ear while slender shapely fingers danced down his chest. He could feel a soft female form pressed against his shoulders as well, he could also feel silky hair rubbing against his cheek it was a nice warm feeling for him to be home with someone that did care.

"Sarutobi asked me to do something that I never thought he would." Jiraiya replied easily, laying his head back across her shoulder. The older man really just didn't know how to respond, he'd wanted so badly to be the Hokage when he was younger but he'd given that dream up when he'd heard Orochimaru speaking about it to their teacher. He'd never brought the subject up again, in a way it was cruel for his former sensei to do this to him to through this into his face again after so much time. It would mean a lot of reformation in himself, but it would also require a lot of reformation of Konoha itself. As much as the toad nin loved his home it needed a massive overhauling, the academy system was out of date the economy was down. Slums had started springing up across the board and the Uchiha police corps weren't doing their jobs considering the higher rate of crime that was pretty much across the border, it would be a lot of work and he didn't know if he wanted to sink that much more of his life into such a place.

The female pressed against the back of the couch and her lover could only blink in surprise, "Oh really, and what did he ask?"

"He wants me to be the Hokage." Jiraiya answered, but he could only think of the responses and regrets of childhood. The white haired man had been the kindest out of them, the one who was willing to help the less fortunate. Tsunade was too involved in her family, while Orochimaru…well the older man had always been all about himself.

Miharu quieted for a moment before she spoke honestly, "I think you should do it. The spy network that you have is more than extensive and you have enough members to replace you. There are close to thirty of us all across the elemental nations to get you the information that you need, but Konoha needs someone with a firmer hand. Which is something it has only had for brief moments in time, during the war Sarutobi was strong and unshakable. When the old man was ready to pass it on to Minato, we ended up getting a sweetheart that was happy to play the hard ass to get the results that he wanted. But when Sarutobi went back into office…he let things slide, has been letting them slide. The civilian council was never supposed to sit in on meetings of the head, and the Daimyo is less then pleased with some of the reports coming out of Anbu."

"Really Miharu, a firmer hand in me?" Jiraiya could only snort at the idea, it had been a long time since he'd trained Genin but this is what control of Konoha was starting to sound-like.

The violet eyes woman sighed, before moving to straddle the man's lap. Taking his cheeks in hand, she forced the older man to look at her "Konoha is dying. It is dying because of negligence and greed. Danzo has caused more problems for us in the last six years than any other. If he is not stopped Konoha will be understaffed, undertrained, and without hope because a war is stirring and we both know this. Homura is about the only person left on the council's staff that actually gives a damn. Koharu and Danzo, they aren't doing things because it benefits Konoha, they are doing as they will because they can. I know you very well Jiraiya, I have known you since I was a child irritating the great Jiraiya to teach a little annoying academy student jutsu when you were just a genin. Do you realize how long that is to know someone inside and out? Thirty years, and in that time I became a friend and lover. I know you can do this, but we need you Rai." One thing the assassin was sure of, they needed someone who would tell everyone to shut up and sit down because they were going to do things one way and one way only. So many ideas would fly about during these meetings that nothing would be decided and another meeting would be called a few days later. In all honesty they should only be having meetings once a week at most and bi-weekly was preferred.

Jiraiya could only stare at the woman before him in shock; it felt good to know that someone believed in him from intimate knowledge. It was also a relief that she believed he could do this on his own merit instead of being a substitute for someone else. There was a deeply scholarly person buried under a rough and tumble exterior, many people forgot exactly how hard Fuuinjutsu, how much knowledge one had to acquire to be able to use that type of skill. As much as a pervert as Jiraiya was he had basically raised Minato by himself, and the boy had been a beautiful achievement until his death.

"Now, can we stop being serious I have something else I'd much rather be doing." Miharu purred out, her violet eyes seemed to have gotten darker with lust, and it always made his gut jump in excitement.

Jiraiya could only snort when a hot open mouth descended on his neck to leave lite bite marks in its wake while amorous hands seemed to be wondering under every opening in his clothing. Holding the underside of the woman's thighs, a husky groan could be heard from both of them when the white haired nin moved the two of them to the bed room. He was too old to be rolling around on the floor or couch and there was a perfect large available bed in the next room there was absolutely no reason for him not to make use of it. Strong hands shifted grips so he could push open the door, and once the bedroom was shut and the sound seals activated it wouldn't be until morning before either one of the nin's emerged.

O o O o O o O

Iruka sighed softly as he signed out of work, ever since Naruto had been admitted to the hospital he'd had to deal with angry parents. When the academy had closed for three weeks, the kind man had to deal with angry parents then too. Most of the civilian parents put their children in public school for a reason, their children got the chance to be pampered and that just wasn't going to happen at least not in his school if it could be helped. Some civilians realized that becoming a ninja wasn't easy though it was a lucrative position if you lived long enough, and children expecting to be hand feed were cut pretty much from the get go.

The young man could only sigh while rubbing the scar that ran across his nose, it was so easy to become frustrated with the civilians. Yet there were several civvies, that made damn good shinobi. Genma Shiranui was a good example, he was young only twenty-five and was more than likely marry into a clan once Suiren's child was registered as a second generation bloodline limit. Either way, Genma was well known in ninja circles as unpredictable yet efficient at getting the job done.

Chuckling to himself at the idea, he waved at some of the other instructors as he left before turning just outside the Academy walls to head toward the hospital. It was odd for him to look up at the hospital, it had been a number of years since this incident that he'd had to see the inside of those ugly walls. Maneuvering through the hall ways, Iruka was slightly surprised to find that Naruto had been moved. Generally people weren't moved from one area of the hospital to the other, but in this case she'd gone from civilian care to the medi-nin care (which in his opinion was where she should have gone in the first place.)

"Ah, Tora-san do you know why Naruto was moved?" Iruka asked, the Anbu in question. It was good to see that someone was keeping watch over the door, it was a concern that something else might happen to the girl.

The Anbu in question simply sent the man several silent hand signals that had Iruka sighing, apparently Naruto's case was on shut down and no one was allowed to talk about it. This ultimately meant that if the young teacher wanted information he would have to talk to the Hokage himself; which would ultimately mean a lot of waiting considering how much of a bitch the man's secretary was.

Iruka could only shake his head at the idea before slipping passed the quiet guard outside to find that both of Naruto's friends had been getting ready to leave. It was only five o'clock but many clans had work for their children even after school closed. Shino was more than likely learning more about the insects he controlled, and while Tenten didn't have a clan her father owned a well-known store that catered exclusively to nin's and the young girl would have to learn how to run it.

"How was your day?" Iruka's smile widened when the two of them jumped in surprise, they probably hadn't heard him come in which wasn't that surprise. Both of them were still being trained in situational awareness, but it would eventually develop over time.

"It was good Umino-sensei." Shino replied slipping into a monotone that his family was known for, there was just something about Aburame's that when they got nervous they shut down emotionally.

Tenten snorted, "I've learned more about hospital politics than I ever wanted to know and fully intend to have a debriefing with Da." The girl replied in dry sarcasm, though he could hear some anger in those words as well.

"Well I suppose the two of you better be off then, I'll see you in the morning." Iruka wasn't about to say anything to either of them. If Tenten had managed to hear something she wasn't supposed to then it was a good thing she planned on talking to her father about it. Shino on the other hand, they were really going to have to see if they could get the boy out of the monotone. On occasion Shibi managed to act like a relatively normal nin, but in comparison to his clan the one who was the most well-known happened to be Muta. The fourteen year old was damned good at what he did and proved it by becoming chunin this year.

Watching the two of them leave Iruka could only sink into the chair, he spent most of his day standing and because of that on occasion his legs just ached like no bodies business. Iruka could only close his eyes and before he knew it, he was out like a light the Anbu on guard so no reason to wake the man in question instead Tora rearranged the younger man into a more comfortable position before throwing a blanket over him. If the little girl did wake up at least she would have someone she knew nearby, considering her guardian was currently on a mission because of the Hokage. Tora sighed, looking over the girl he knew she was going to change Konoha the question was how much?


End file.
